Paul Erasmus was a South African Security Police officer who testified to the

Goldstone Commission The Goldstone Commission, formally known as the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, was appointed on 24 October 1991 to investigate political violence and intimidation in South Africa. Over its three- ...

, and later the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

about police dirty tricks and violence during the apartheid era. This testimony revealed the existence of a unit in the Security Police called STRATCOM (Strategic Communications) that specialised in misinformation and propaganda against opponents of the regime. Erasmus also testified on the police efforts to discredit

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

by spreading false rumours about sexual affairs and drug use. Before joining STRATCOM, Erasmus had served in the counter-insurgency campaign in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, as part of the

Koevoet Koevoet (, Afrikaans for ''Crowbar (tool), crowbar'', also known as Operation K or SWAPOL-COIN) was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually se ...

police unit.

Trashing music industry

Erasmus appears in a documentary, ''Stopping the Music: the Roger Lucey Story'', in which he explains Stratcom's campaign against South African folk rock guitarist

Roger Lucey Roger Lucey (born 1954) is a South African musician, journalist, filmmaker, actor, and educator. In the late 1970s and early 1980s his early career as a musician was destroyed by Paul Erasmus of the Security Branch of the South African Polic ...

, which led to banning and disruption of gigs, confiscation of records, and an overzealous campaign against

Shifty Records Shifty Records was a South African anti-apartheid record label founded by Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey in 1982/1983, which existed for around ten years. History Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey founded Shifty records in 1983.) but Kontaktnätet a Swed ...

and the South African music industry in general. Erasmus's revelations were published in a biography, which was then extracted by an article in the Mail & Guardian.

Torture as treatment

Erasmus was a feared interrogator. His methods of persuasion included burning, choking, beating, drowning, and administering electric shocks.

Biography

''Foot Soldier for Apartheid'', an unpublished manuscript, has extracts available online.

References

External links

Tuning Into the Enemy
- BBC Radio

27 November 2000, Truth and reconciliation commission

Regulation Gazette, No. 7311 No. R. 26, 2002. Government Gazette, Vol. 441, No. 23257, 28 March 2002. Section "XIV Paul Erasmus (identity number 5602145141006), in respect of -" Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent South African military personnel of the Border War South African police officers South African torturers South African white supremacists People who testified at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa) {{law-enforcement-bio-stub Perpetrators of political repression in apartheid-era South Africa