‘Hogan pushed me to hit her’

FORMER security branch police officer Nick Deetlefs has accused ANC stalwart and anti-apartheid activist Barbara Hogan of inciting him to assault her while he was interrogating her at the John Vorster Square police station.

Deetlefs testified at the reopened inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Dr Neil Aggett whose body was found hanging in his cell after days of torture by members of the security branch in 1982..

Despite initially claiming to have been a non-violent security cop to whom torturing political detainees was against his principles, Deetlefs admitted to assault, saying he would slap detainees in the face.

“I will admit that Barbara was sitting opposite me when I was interrogating her. I then gave her, with an open hand, a slap on her cheek.

“That is what I had done to her. She must have said something that made me hit her because I am not a violent person and I am totally against violence,” he said.

He also admitted he had threatened to torture her with electric shocks during the interrogation. “I could have said that just to push the truth out of her. It was just to scare her,” he said.

He admitted he was among the security branch officers who had interrogated Aggett before he died but denied any hand in his torture, instead claiming Aggett had shown signs of being suicidal.

Deetlefs said Aggett had said he did not know how he was going to live with himself after exposing his best friend and comrade John Theron as being a member of the “banned” South African Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu).

The Aggett family’s lawyer, advocate Howard Varney, rejected Deetlefs’ claims, pointing out to him Sactu was not banned.

Deetlefs has been accused of providing testimony riddled with false and contradictory evidence since he took the stand on Monday, with Varney indicating the family would push for him to be criminally prosecuted for Aggett’s death.