Editing History of South Africa (section)

===Extra-judicial killings===
In the mid-1980s, police and army death squads conducted state-sponsored assassinations of dissidents and activists.<ref>Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1998), Findings in respect of the state and its allies: findings 82, 100 c, 100 f, 101, 102 pp. 213, 219, 223, 224 – Quote: ''"Evidence placed before the Commission indicates, however, that from the late-1970s, senior politicians – as well as police, national intelligence and defence force leaders – developed a strategy to deal with opposition to the government. This entailed, among other actions, the unlawful killing, within and beyond South Africa, of people whom they perceived as posing a significant challenge to the state's authority."''</ref> By mid-1987 the Human Rights Commission knew of at least 140 political assassinations in the country, while about 200 people died at the hands of South African agents in neighbouring states. The exact numbers of all the victims may never be known.<ref>Patrick Laurence, ''Death Squads: Apartheid's secret weapon'', London: Penguin 1990, p.30</ref> Strict censorship disallowed journalists from reporting, filming or photographing such incidents, while the government ran its own covert disinformation programme that provided distorted accounts of the extrajudicial killings.<ref>Richard Leonard, ''South Africa at War'', Chapter six: "The propaganda war", Johannesburg: Donker, 1983, pp.161–197 {{ISBN|0-86852-093-4}}</ref> At the same time, State-sponsored vigilante groups carried out violent attacks on communities and community leaders associated with resistance to apartheid.<ref>Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1998), Findings on the role of allies of the state, pages 227–238</ref> The attacks were then falsely attributed by the government to "black-on-black" or factional violence within the communities.<ref>Peter Harris, "The role of rightwing vigilantes in South Africa", in ''States of Terror'', Catholic Institute of International Relations, London: 1989, pp. 2–3 {{ISBN|1-85287-019-2}}</ref>

The [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC) would later establish that a covert, informal network of former or still serving army and police operatives, frequently acting in conjunction with extreme right-wing elements, was involved in actions that could be construed as fomenting violence and which resulted in gross human rights violations, including random and targeted killings.<ref>''Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report'', Vol. 6, Section 4 Appendix: The "Third Force", 2003, p.584</ref>
Between 1960–1994, according to statistics from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the [[Inkatha Freedom Party]] was responsible for 4,500 deaths, [[South African Police]] 2,700, and the ANC about 1,300.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume5.pdf |title=Volume Five – Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report |access-date=2 May 2014 |archive-date=19 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119114845/http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume5.pdf }}</ref>

In early 2002, a planned military coup by a white supremacist movement known as the ''[[Boeremag]]'' (Boer Force) was foiled by the South African police.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap4.pdf |title=Institute of Security Studies, Monograph No.81 |access-date=18 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111213246/http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap4.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Two dozen conspirators including senior South African Army officers were arrested on charges of treason and murder, after a bomb explosion in Soweto. The effectiveness of the police in foiling the planned coup strengthened public perceptions that the post-1994 democratic order was irreversible.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

The TRC, at the conclusion of its mandate in 2004, handed over a list of 300 names of alleged perpetrators to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for investigation and prosecution by the NPA's Priority Crimes Litigation Unit. Less than a handful of prosecutions were ever pursued.<ref>Ranjeni Munusamy, [http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-03-25-the-trcs-unfinished-business-old-wounds-new-oppressor/#.VTj-SNKqqkr Unfinished business of the TRC], ''Daily Maverick'' 23 March 2013. Accessed 23 April 2015.</ref><ref>Paul Seils, [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-seils/political-pardons-would-d_b_6810864.html Political pardons would damage the legacy of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission], ''Huffington Post'', 6 March 2015. Accessed 25 April 2015.</ref>