Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment

Date: 29 Dec 1983
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment

Commodore Dieter Gerhardt, the former commanding officer of the Simonstown naval base, and his second wife Ruth Gerhardt, were sentenced to life imprisonment and ten years' imprisonment respectively, being found guilty of high treason on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. On 26 January, 1983, the South African government announced at a special press conference that a senior South African naval officer, Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his second wife, Ruth, had been detained for questioning in connection with alleged espionage. Both Dieter and Ruth were released prior to the change of government following the 1994 general election.

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How we know this

01O’Malley P. ‘1983’, from Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and Dialog, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org.za [Accessed: 24 October 2012]
02South African History Online, ‘Dieter and Ruth Gerhard are detained’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 24 October 2012]
03The Decade of the 1980’s, ‘1983: Soviet Spy Dieter Gerhardt is arrested in NY’, [online], available at thedecadeofthe1980s.yolasite.com [Accessed: 24 October 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, December 20). Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094440

South African History Online (2012) 'Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment', South African History Online, 20 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094440 (Accessed: 16 August 2026).

South African History Online, Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094440, (accessed 16 August 2026).

"Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment." South African History Online, 20 Dec. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094440. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his wife are sentenced to life imprisonment." South African History Online. December 20, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094440.