She testified about how she felt bitter about the way Barnard had treated her - one cold winter when he refused to pay for her water and electricity and she had to cook her food on an open fire outside stood out in her memory - but said she had never meant to harm him. She spoke about how scared she was of Barnard and his friends, but how she loved him regardless. He was sentenced to two life sentences and an additional 63 years in prison.ĭuring his criminal trial in the Pretoria High Court, his ex-girlfriend Amore Badenhorst testified as a witness for the State. Then in 1998, he was found guilty of Webster’s murder, as well as the attempted murder of struggle stalwart Dullah Omar, amongst numerous other crimes. Barnard publicly denied responsibility for years. Barnard and former rugby player and detective Calla Botha were taken in by authorities a few months after the hit but they were soon released. Webster’s murder fuelled speculation and intrigue. A vehicle pulled up alongside him and a hitman armed with a shotgun opened fire. On their return, Webster parked his van outside his house in Troyeville and let the dogs out. On a Saturday morning in 1989, Webster and his partner Maggie Friedman took their dogs for a walk. His work drew international attention to the issue and was a thorn in the side of the government. As a leading figure in the Detainees’ Support Committee during the State of Emergency, Webster regularly intervened and arranged what became known as ‘tea parties’, gatherings for detainees and their supporters. In the late 1980s, Webster was a university lecturer and a campaigner against apartheid, in particular against detention without trial. The most high profile of his crimes would be the brutal assassination of David Webster. There were lingering stories about how those who threatened to speak out or testify against him were either threatened or ended up dead. As a young cop he had been convicted of a double murder but that seemed to add more to his reputation in the CCB than against it. He had left a trail of violence but somehow, nothing ever managed to stick to him. Barnard was one of the most notorious of the CCBs agents – as a former narcotics bureau detective, murderer and underworld hard man, he slotted right in. It was a network of ex cops, recces and criminals which was responsible for a reign of assassinations, bombings and intimidation. It was an approved operation and Joe Verster knew about everything.”įerdinand Barnard was a member of a government sponsored death squad, the South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB). “I was paid a R40 000 production bonus after the killing. I didn’t say anything, too scared to interrupt him and stop a confession. I did it.”īefore he continued, he put the pipe in his mouth again and inhaled the mixture into his lungs. “He flew through the air and landed on the pavement. He blew a streak of white smoke against the front window of the car where it exploded into a million molecules. The tiny orange coal in his crack pipe glowed brightly in the afternoon light as it slowly burned down the syringe, consuming the crystals and tobacco. Sitting next to me sucking on his crack pipe was Ferdi Barnard, one of apartheid’s most infamous hoodlums, a Rambo-esque killer who moved between the criminal underworld of drug dealing, prostitution and diamond smuggling, and South Africa’s official business in the government’s dirty tricks units and death squads. I killed him,” he suddenly said, kept quiet for a second or two, and let rip again: “It’s true.
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