Ngcuka in ‘apartheid soldiers’ row

By Leon Bekker Garden Route Correspondent

BULELANI Ngcuka, former head of the National Prosecutions Authority and husband of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has been slammed by a top Botswana doctor for going into business with two men who served as senior officers in elite units of the SA Defence Force during the apartheid era.

Ngcuka’s Amabubesi Investments recently bought a controlling interest in Sedgefield’s controversial Lakes Eco Golf Estate project. Working with him on the project are former soldiers Jan Breytenbach, a founder of the crack Recce Commandos, and Willy Ward, a Recce officer.

The Lakes Eco project was previously controlled by Gauteng property entrepreneur Steyn Fourie, who also served in the pre-1994 SADF special forces.

Dr Alexander von Paleske, the head of the department of oncology at Botswana’s Princess Marina Hospital, said yesterday that he had experienced first-hand what South African special forces like the Recce Commandos and 32 Battalion were capable of in neighbouring countries pre-1994.

Von Paleske is now conducting an e-mail campaign to publicise details of the activities of the two former army officers.

And he said he “is at a loss to understand” how Ngcuka could be involved in a business venture with “such men”.

Breytenbach is employed as a conservation consultant on the property and Ward is the farm manager. Breytenbach, a former colonel, founded the legendary 32 Battalion, and Ward left the SADF as a lieutenant-colonel.

In an interview yesterday, Von Paleske said that two books on the SADF’s operations confirmed that both men had been involved in “appalling” atrocities in neighbouring countries.

Ward said yesterday he and Breytenbach had no regrets about anything they had done in the SADF. “We were fighting for our country, and it is time to let go of the past,” he said.

“We are busy turning rifles into ploughshares now.”

Ward said he was “very upset” that neighbours and other individuals were circulating Von Paleske’s e-mails widely, and had handed the matter to his lawyer.