SAfricans divided over apartheid death squad leader being granted parole

(31 Jan 2015) The South African government on Friday granted parole to Eugene de Kock, the head of an apartheid state covert unit responsible for dozens of deaths, saying his freedom is in the interest of national reconciliation.
A close friend of de Kock welcomed the decision after a "good number of years" working on gaining parole for the divisive figure.
"We are satisfied with the outcome but with consideration for the families (of de Kock's victims) for whom this might be a very emotional day," Piet Croucamp told reporters.
Some members of the public disagreed with the judge's decision to grant parole to de Kock.
"They should have got the death sentence, they should have hung for what they did during the apartheid years," said 51-year-old local resident John Johannes.
De Kock was arrested in 1994, when apartheid ended, and in 1996 was sentenced to two life terms and an additional 212 years in prison.
During his testimony to the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which recommended amnesty to those who admitted to wrongdoing during apartheid, de Kock recalled how he and the C10 police unit tortured and killed anti-apartheid activists at Vlakplaas, a farm outside Pretoria, South Africa's capital.
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