Eugene de Kock has the blood of dozens of people on his hands. To most South Africans he is the monster from Vlakplaas. Nonetheless, Anemari Jansen was intrigued by him when she met him in 2011 in Pretoria Central Prison. How could the prisoner ‘with the soft voice’ be reconciled with the man dubbed ‘Prime Evil’? Jansen’s search for answers led her across the country, to De Kock’s family, friends, and former Koevoet and Vlakplaas colleagues, who revealed much about him. She also quotes extensively from De Kock’s diaries and an unpublished manuscript. In his own words, De Kock is scathingly honest: about the atrocities he committed, about the superiors from whom he received his orders – and about his shame. This book paints a picture of a highly intelligent, complex individual. It sheds light not only on De Kock’s choices, but also on South Africa’s recent past, in a revelatory and often shocking way.
关于作者
In 2011 Anemari Jansen unexpectedly got an opportunity to meet Eugene de Kock in jail. She was immediately fascinated by the man ‘with the soft voice’, the former commander of Vlakplaas who was dubbed Prime Evil by the media. She won De Kock’s trust and for the next three years went on a journey to find out more about the man behind the persona and the era in which he committed his crimes: she visited Vlakplaas, did countless interviews with his former Koevoet and Vlakplaas colleagues and Sunday after Sunday visited De Kock in the old Pretoria Central prison. Jansen simply had to know: How did it happen that De Kock could commit such heinous crimes? Her search for answers took her across the country and changed her life irrevocably. Jansen’s debut novel, called Glipstroom, was published by Tafelberg in 2014. She has an MA in Afrikaans from the former RAU and a BA (HOD) from the University of Pretoria. Since 2012 she has been writing articles for the online police magazine e Nongqai.