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Article: S. African Black Tells Informer's Tale; Ex-ANC Rebel Faces Prospect of `Necklacing' by Former Comrades
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 10, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The young black man dressed in jeans and jogging shoes fidgeted,
shifting in his seat when talk turned to "necklacing," the execution
ritual in which those denounced as police informants are burned alive
with a gasoline-filled tire around their bodies.
"I'm scared of it, yes. But one should always be vigilant and
carry a gun," said the 28-year-old, an ex-guerrilla of the African
National Congress who turned undercover police agent after nine years
of training to overthrow the white-minority government he now serves.
Identifying himself as "John," he softly described a life in a
twilight zone of fear of being unmasked and dragged before one of the
"peoples' courts" that dispense curbside ...