Does it Hurt to Die (10 page)

‘The first thing,’ said Strydom on meeting him, ‘is that you’re an Afrikaner.’

This was a statement of the obvious, but Jannie understood that for someone like Strydom it was a necessary statement of fact on which to build a relationship. It suggested that he was going to be trusted with information that few others would have access to.

‘We’ve identified your understanding that we’re trying to achieve a South Africa that is a prosperous and safe place forever, for both the white and black populations. We also believe that you can help us to achieve that as one of the top Afrikaner minds in the country. We need you to assist in some of the programmes that we’re developing to ensure the longevity and stability of our government.’

Jannie looked at Strydom, realising that this was not a request, but a command, the refusal of which would mean not only the end of any funding but also quite possibly his career. There was no other option, he thought. They had drawn him in with the funding of the transplant programme and by appealing to his Afrikaner roots. Then he rationalised that he would only be providing guidance in scientific endeavours, which he thought his academic friends might see as a bromidic way of assuaging his conscience. Then, they may never know, he thought.

The first meeting of the president’s committee took place in a building that was attached to the BOSS headquarters at John Vorster Square in Pretoria. The arrangements were different from what he had experienced previously in meetings with Van der Walt. Jannie now had a chauffeur pick him up from Johannesburg airport. The driver always wore dark glasses and had an earpiece with which to communicate with his controllers. There was never any conversation, other than the normal greeting in Afrikaans at the airport. The windows of the BMW were darkened and, Jannie guessed, bullet-proof. Access to the building on John Vorster Square was never through the main entrance that he had previously used. He was now taken through a special security gate at the back of the building. From there he took a lift that brought him to the fifth floor and into a conference room.

He was surprised by how many he recognised from the academic world and wondered whether their research funds were also benefiting from their cooperation with BOSS. He was familiar with two academics in particular, as they had both recently been in the paper denying that South Africa had any nuclear weapons. Richard Ingles was the physicist involved and Martyn Stein the professor of astrophysics in Durban. The sight of so many prominent academics was certainly reassuring. Jannie thought they obviously felt this was the right thing to be doing for their country.

After initial introductions, Jannie was made head of the medical research programme. He was told his responsibilities would extend to, and include, the laboratories set up by the defence force. He was presented with a dossier that was marked ‘classified’. Instructions in Afrikaans specified that the dossier was for the eyes of those on the president’s committee only. Flicking through it, he saw that it was divided into various sections. Looking at each of them, he could understand why it was classified. The programmes were clearly identified: Nuclear Weapons/Fusion; ARMSCOR/armaments, International Allies; Germ/Biological Warfare Programme; Red Mercury; and SAA Helderberg. It contained no information below the headings.

He turned to the medical section, which was more substantial than the outlines of the others. There he found various subheadings such as biological, chemical, and industrial programmes grouped with antiterrorist strategies. While he wanted to examine the medical programme more closely, the section on nuclear weapons fascinated him. There had been much discussion in the international press about whether South Africa had nuclear weapons, and he was tempted to quickly scan the summary for more information when General Manfred Opel spoke. In very broad Afrikaans, he reminded them of the commitment to secrecy and that nothing was to be repeated outside of the room. He then continued speaking, looking in Jannie’s direction, before saying that young gifted doctors would be selected to work in a laboratory to determine how the country could be protected through germ warfare. This was only to be used against terrorists gathering in Angola and Mozambique and was to be a defensive/offensive weapon. He indicated that chemical and biological agents would be field tested, when ready, against the Cubans, who had made Angola their home and were supporting the South
West African Peoples terrorist Organisation (SWAPO).

Theo Krueger, a young doctor, was introduced after Opel had finished speaking. He was led in through a rear door and introduced as the head of the defence force laboratory in Pretoria. Opel then indicated he would provide a summary of the medical programmes for all those present. Krueger started his summary in broad Afrikaans, explaining there were three areas of research being developed under the germ warfare programme. The bacterial and viral research was underway to determine effective delivery of Ebola virus, Vibrio cholera, Yersinnia pestis and Yellow fever. He explained that the medical research unit had successfully produced symptoms in five black workers who had been
‘accidentally’ exposed to Ebola virus. This, he suggested, was through insufficient precautions, but these had now been overcome. They had died, Krueger went on, but they had provided much valuable information on the reaction to immunoglobulin administered to combat the virus. As Jannie took in the enormity of what had been said, he detected a small smile as Krueger finished his presentation. As someone who had taken an oath to preserve life, that concerned him greatly.

Krueger continued after a small pause as if expecting questions. He then described future developments, including Bacillus anthracis and
Ricin—a collaboration with the Israelis and the Bulgarians that was the second arm of the medical programme. Ricin had been effectively field tested by the Bulgarians in London and had been rated highly as an assassination tool. Its limitations, from a South African point of view, were its failure to be employed on a larger scale, but perhaps it could be useful against individual activists.

Given the current threat, he considered that what was needed was something that was available for mass distribution. Thus, the aerosolisation of chemical agents for mass distribution was the third arm of research currently under way. The Israelis, he suggested, were very keen to see whether Ricin could be utilised on a large scale. The full cooperation of the chemical warfare unit in MOSSAD had been given to BOSS. Angola again had been selected as an ideal testing ground, following information gathered from the Special Forces unit. They still had to resolve the size of the particles, which were too large to reach the lower respiratory tract and therefore did not cause the desired lethal lung haemorrhage. Krueger indicated that research was proceeding to perfect the micron size to enable it to be deployed and that he would be providing regular updates to the committee. There was polite applause as he came to the conclusion of this presentation and sat down.

Jannie sat looking at no one in particular, taking in the enormity of what he had heard. Part of him started to wonder whether there was a real and genuine threat that he had not appreciated, from both inside and outside of South Africa. This threat came not only from blacks wanting to take democracy by force but also from those who wanted the country’s rich resources. He understood that countries like Cuba and China were prepared to sponsor black terrorism both within and beyond South Africa’s borders to achieve control of those resources. Jannie had always appreciated the need to defend the Afrikaner heritage, but now, with outside threats to not only the Afrikaner way but also their sovereignty, such defence extremes may be justifiable. As he thought about the implications, the idea of nuclear weapons as a deterrent seemed less offensive. He felt a little less perturbed when one of the most prominent physicists in the country was introduced and indicated that plans for a nuclear development programme at Faure were well advanced. Jannie even felt comfortable thinking that in his small way he was contributing to a safe future for his country and family.

Before he had the opportunity to again glance at the dossier, the meeting was closed, leaving him with just a declassified summary of developments for the medical defensive protection programme, as it was called. Strydom told him that the folder was not to leave the room and that he was expected to return to Johannesburg within the week to discuss these experiments and to provide his analysis of the results. He had been keen to talk to some of the other scientists, but, clearly, that was not going to happen, as each of them had minders to escort them to the awaiting cars.

As he stood at the bottom of the lift waiting for the chauffeur, he was joined by Martyn Stein, who, along with Richard Ingles, was one of the driving forces behind the nuclear power plant in Koeburg in the Western Cape. He was probably about the same age as Jannie, in his forties, but with prematurely grey hair. Stein was not stereotypical for a professor of physics, other than his grey hair. He did not wear round academic spectacles, which anyway would have looked strange on his large nose. His physique was similar to a marathon runner, very ectomorphic, without being nerdy. Jannie had hoped to talk to him at the meeting, as he knew he was one of the finest minds in South Africa and a world-rated physicist. He had always admired his thinking and the quality of his work. Stein’s drive had established the only nuclear power station in Africa. Living in the Western Cape, Jannie had often wondered why that area had been chosen for a nuclear power station when, from a strategic point of view, there seemed to be much safer places to have built it. To talk to Stein seemed a way to quickly answer many of the questions he’d long had.

Jannie nodded a greeting to Stein and took a few steps towards him, half expecting his security escort to intervene. When he did not, Jannie proceeded to introduce himself in English, knowing that his Afrikaans security escort would have difficulty following his conversation. After an exchange of pleasantries, Stein suggested they share a car going to the airport. Jannie doubted that this would be permitted, as there seemed to be a determined policy to keep academics apart, but clearly Stein had influence.

On the way to the airport, they exchanged questions about each other’s family. Jannie was about to ask Stein about the nuclear power station in Cape Town when he noticed that there was a certain degree of nervousness that seemed out of place in someone so well known and respected. Jannie was aware that one of their minders was constantly reviewing their positions in the back seat, giving the impression, he felt, that one of them wasn’t trusted. The thought did cross his mind that it may be him as the latest addition to the president’s committee, but Stein’s nervousness made him wonder whether it may be Stein. As they drove on quietness developed between them. Jannie sensed that Stein was not in the mood to talk about much, let alone the reasons for putting a nuclear power plant in Cape Town. Therefore, Jannie decided to look at the Johannesburg skyline through the car window as the silence progressed. Then he noticed Stein put his briefcase down between them. Stein kept on looking at him while fiddling nervously with the clasp on the briefcase.

He then leaned towards Jannie and spoke quietly in English
. ‘Jannie you’re dealing with people and trying to save their lives. I have heard about your work with liver transplants and have admired your courage from a distance.’

Jannie was initially surprised at the comment because physics had always seemed to be the Holy Grail in science. He wondered how someone such as Martyn Stein would know of the work that he was doing. He turned to reply, but Stein continued the whispered conversation before he could think of an apt response.

‘I always wanted to study medicine, but my physics teacher persuaded me that the world of physics would be more exciting in the future. Now I wish that I had. Medicine demands a commitment to helping people; the Hippocratic Oath demands that you preserve life, whereas physics can destroy it. I take it that you took the Hippocratic Oath, Jannie?’

‘
I did, indeed; it’s a remarkably strong commitment to the preservation of all life.’

‘
Black and white?’ asked Stein.

‘
Of all colours,’ said Jannie.

‘
I like your commitment, Dr de Villiers; it does sound like you wouldn’t sell your soul.’

Jannie looked at Stein, wondering where the conversation was leading, but silence again descended. He was reflecting on the unusual comments Stein had made and wondered whether there was something cryptic, he was trying to communicate.

At Johannesburg airport, the normal scrum of people lingered in front of the domestic terminal. The car was soon being pressed on either side by blacks and coloureds wanting to take their bags in return for payment. One of the security minders wound down the window and let forward a tirade of abuse in Afrikaans, which had the desired effect of dispersing the would-be helpers. It was while both were distracted in the front seat and remarking to each other and laughing about the effect that the tirade had on the prospective black porters that Jannie noticed Stein quickly and surreptitiously slide a folder from his briefcase under Jannie’s. Jannie glanced at him. Stein shook his head indicating not to say anything, and then said farewell and left the car. Jannie realised it must be important and quickly slid the folder into his briefcase, got out of the car, and made his way as nonchalantly as he could towards the plane.

As the plane took off from Johannesburg, he was tempted to look in his briefcase to see what Stein had given him. He hankered to find out what was so important that prevented Stein from discussing it with him and had
led to resorting to such subterfuge. He decided not to look at the folder until he reached Cape Town, as the flight was full and he was unsure whether Stein’s folder should be seen by anyone else.