Apartheid Assassin Eugene de Kock Reveals President Ramaphosa Was Targeted for Death on Secret 33 Person Hit List

Former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock testifies at the Cradock Four inquest, revealing a secret hit list that included President Cyril Ramaphosa.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 27, 2026, 6:41 AM EDT

Source: The information in this article was sourced from EWN

Revelations of High Level Targeted Assassination Plots

The reopened inquest into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four has taken a dramatic turn with the testimony of Eugene de Kock, the former commander of the notorious Vlakplaas police unit. Speaking before the High Court in Gqeberha, the man once dubbed Prime Evil disclosed the existence of a state sanctioned hit list containing 33 names of political targets. Among those marked for death by the apartheid regime's leadership was the current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. According to de Kock, the orders for these killings originated from the highest levels of the security apparatus, reflecting a desperate attempt by the state to eliminate perceived internal threats during the height of political resistance.

Defiance Against Command and the Terrorism Label

In a surprising display of retrospective dissent, de Kock informed the judge that he actively challenged the directives to execute those on the list. He claimed that when presented with the names, his attitude was one of confrontation, specifically questioning why his superiors did not carry out the acts themselves if they deemed them necessary. Regarding President Ramaphosa, de Kock testified that he explicitly refused the order on the grounds that the future president was not a terrorist. This testimony suggests a complex internal friction within the apartheid police force, where even its most prolific operative drew lines at certain political assassinations while others, like the Cradock Four, were not spared.

The Context of the Cradock Four Murders

The current proceedings are focused on the abduction and subsequent brutal killing of activists Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Fort Calata in 1985. These four men, known as the Cradock Four, were prominent anti-apartheid figures whose deaths became a symbol of the regime's extrajudicial violence. De Kock’s testimony at this reopened inquest is intended to shed light on the chain of command and the specific authorizations that led to such operations. By linking the Cradock Four case to broader hit lists, the court is gaining a more comprehensive understanding of how the security branch prioritized its targets during the mid eighties.