Following an interim report of the Goldstone Commission, which probed allegations of a Third Force in political violence, President F.W. De Klerk announced that a further ten unnamed officers implicated in the report were being withdrawn from service without loss of privileges. He further warned that if the officers turn down the arrangements the government would suspend them. The possible major standoff between the generals and De Klerk seemed to have been resolved when on 25 March Commissioner Johan van der Merve proclaimed that Deputy Police Commissioner Lt.-Gen. Basie Smit and Lt.-Gen. Johan Le Roux voluntarily suspended themselves.
23 March 1994
Government withdraws ten police officers from service
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019

How we know this
- 01Keesing's Record of World Events, News Digest for March 1994, p. 39895.
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Government withdraws ten police officers from service. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013142
South African History Online (2011) 'Government withdraws ten police officers from service', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013142 (Accessed: 13 October 2026).
South African History Online, Government withdraws ten police officers from service [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013142, (accessed 13 October 2026).
"Government withdraws ten police officers from service." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013142. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "Government withdraws ten police officers from service." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013142.
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