The Heartless and Vicious 1985 Lesotho Raid

During the early hours of 20 December 1985, at around 01:00, Vlakplaas Commander Eugene de Kock was leading a unit of six men, as they were deployed at one of the houses in Hoohlo Township in Maseru. Amongst them was a young so-called Coloured man, Elvis Macaskill, who was a resident of the township, and was briefing them about the party that was taking place in the house.

According to Macaskill, Joe and Jacqui Quin had left the party early and the other partygoers were still inside. De Kock then instructed Macaskill to lead Anton Adamson and another member of the group to Joe Quin’s house, which was approximately two kilometres away, while the three others, under De Kock’s leadership, preceded to the main target house.

When they approached the main house, they saw a man leaving the premises to look for something in his car and De Kock fired two shots at him. Afterwards, De Kock and Willie Nortjé stormed the house, while the other two members of the team remained outside to keep watch.

Inside the house, De Kock and Nortjé shot dead six people and after having made sure that those in the house were dead, they met the other two that went to the Quin’s residence in the getaway vehicle. Adamson reported that they struggled to capture Joe Quin alive, and they subsequently shot him. He then added that Jacqui Quin was also shot dead when she grabbed one of the guns by the silencer.

A few minutes later, the glass panel of the front door of a women’s apartment was cracked open, as a man edged through, with two bullet holes on his side, bleeding profusely through his mouth and stomach, as he asked the women for painkillers. One of the women phoned for an ambulance, but was struggling to get through.

The man who came to them asking for painkillers, Joe Quin (real name Leo Meyer), was an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Commander in Lesotho. He was already dead when one of the women decided to head for the hospital to secure an ambulance.

When the police entered the Quin’s household, they found a one-year-old baby girl unharmed. Ultimately, nine bodies were recovered from the early morning attacks, with seven people being killed at the main target house, which included Vivian Matthee, Joseph Monwabisi (aka “Joseph Mayoli”), Nomkhosi Mini (aka “Mary”), Mankahelang Mohatle, Lulamile Dantile (aka “Morris Seabelo”), Midian Zulu and one citizen of Lesotho.

It later emerged that Lulamile Dantile (aka “Morris Seabelo”) was an MK Commander in Angola, and Joseph Mayoli was his Chief of Staff, and the two had been sent to Lesotho only two months earlier to consolidate infiltrations into South Africa.

In his evidence to the TRC in May 1997, the former apartheid Minister of Defence, General Magnus Malan, submitted minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the State Security Council (SSC) held on 21 October 1985, which was chaired by apartheid State President PW Botha. The meeting recommended “offensive action against ANC bases inside Lesotho – even if it meant direct confrontation with government forces – because of the possibility that the ANC was stockpiling arms in the country”.

Eugene de Kock was tasked with this operation in December 1985, when a Vlakplaas death squad of six men raided two houses in the heart of the capital of Maseru. According to the guidelines set out by the SSC, the raid had to be approved by State President PW Botha.

On the night of 20 December, the men smuggled their silenced weapons across the Caledon River. In the middle of the night, under cover of darkness, disguised and camouflaged, the men attacked two houses. De Kock said his men had instructions not to kill women and children, but a woman by the name of Jackie Quinn opened the door, saw the pistol and grabbed it. She was shot dead. Eight more people were assassinated, among them was Nomkhosi “Mary” Mini, also a woman. Jackie Quinn’s baby was also in the house, but she was left uninjured.

Apartheid Police Head, General Johan van der Merwe recommended that the raiding squad be decorated with the Police Star for Outstanding Service, for “The successful execution of this operation”, which according to them, “was of utmost importance for the Internal security of the Republic of South Africa”. During a private ceremony in Van Der Merwe’s office, the six Security Branch members were awarded the Police Star of Bravery.

On 5 May 1986, when he received the fifth annual Third World Prize on behalf of Nelson and Winnie Mandela in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, then ANC President Oliver Tambo emphasised that “All they know and will ever know, is the need to maintain the system of White supremacy, and to maintain it by the use of all the violence that they can muster … The bloodletting continues without reserve because, after all, those that are being killed are, in the eyes of the generals, lesser beings who can be disposed of without compuction, because they are less than human.”

Castro Khwela
Good day fellow Compatriots!