195:(BOSS) has also become persistently associated with the murders in the popular imagination. BOSS was a central player in the Information Scandal, and was alleged to include a unit, the so-called Z-Squad, which carried out extra-judicial killings in the 1970s. In 1997, Roy Allen, a former member of BOSS, was named as the chief suspect in the murder case, although he denied the allegations and said that he had not belonged to the so-called Z-Squad. Then, almost a decade later, the
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were held by the state to pay front organisations. However, no charges were ever laid: Verwey had died in 1980; Freeman had committed suicide in 1990; and Allen was by then living in
Australia. It has also been alleged that the police investigations into the murders were in fact orchestrated to cover up the involvement of the security forces, and attention has also been given to the possibility that Smit was murdered by a Cuban hit squad.
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shot in the doorway, in the neck, head, back and chest, with a 0.38 calibre gun. Jean-Cora was also stabbed 14 times with a stiletto, and Smit once, in the back. It has been described as "an extremely professional hit." The Smits' driver discovered their bodies the next morning, and also discovered that the letters "RAU TEM" had been written in red spray paint across the fridge and kitchen walls.
141:. He was considered a rising star in the party and was expected to be appointed to high office after the elections, possibly even to the Ministry of Finance. At the time of his death, he and his wife, Jean-Cora, were staying in a rented house in Selcourt, Springs; their two teenaged children were in Pretoria.
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heard evidence on the Smits' murders. Its report said that the evidence suggested that some party retained "a contemporary interest in ensuring that the facts surrounding the killings remain hidden," indicating "a political agenda or at least one in which powerful – possibly financial – interests are
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reported, on the basis of information from an anonymous source in the intelligence services, that Allen and two alleged former Z-Squad members – Dries Verwey and Phil
Freeman – had carried out the murders, to prevent Smit from publicly disclosing his knowledge about secret overseas bank accounts that
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The most popular theory about the Smits' murders is that they were carried out by the South
African security forces, probably at the behest of a high-level politician or official. In particular, since 1977, there has been a persistent rumour that Smit had uncovered large-scale corruption or fraud in
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On 22 November 1977, Smit and his wife were shot dead in their rental home in
Springs. Jean-Cora had already been shot by the time Smit arrived home from the office in the evening. She was shot in the chest, in the thigh, and in the back of the head at close range, with a 0.32 calibre gun. He was
89:, tipped as a future Minister of Finance. He was murdered, along with his wife Jean-Cora, on 22 November 1977. No arrests have ever been made, and there was little evidence in the case, but the murders are widely suspected to have been politically motivated. Cabinet Minister
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the state and planned to expose it. Smit had reportedly told several people that he was in possession of "explosive" information which he planned to share. This theory first emerged in
December 1977, when the
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described it as "one of the most haunting criminal mysteries in our country," and the police investigation remained open as of
November 2012.
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reported that police were considering the possibility that Smit had been murdered after uncovering a foreign currency racket. After the
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vested." It concluded that the murders had been politically motivated and carried out by members of the apartheid security forces.
121:, and in 1967, aged 34, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of Finance. From 1971 to 1975, he was South Africa's ambassador to the
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broke in 1978, rumours circulated that Smit had been killed because he had known about the secret
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Apartheid's
Friends: The Rise and Fall of South Africa's Secret Service
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342:"A Noted Economist And Wife Are Slain Near Johannesburg"
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459:. Vol. 2. Cape Town: The Commission. 1998.
239:"New claims made about who killed Robert Smit"
595:African politicians assassinated in the 1970s
500:"Politician's murder 'solved' after 29 years"
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117:, which governed in South Africa throughout
109:and received a doctorate in economics from
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580:National Party (South Africa) politicians
413:"Police reopen Smit murder investigation"
376:"Did apartheid SA kill its rising star?"
129:He returned to South Africa to work for
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600:Politicians assassinated in 1977
590:Unsolved murders in South Africa
474:"Smit murders not solved - SAPS"
182:South Africa's nuclear programme
585:People murdered in South Africa
374:Smith, Tymon (6 January 2019).
314:"The Smit murders: Re-examined"
526:"Claims are trash, says widow"
312:Myburgh, James (7 June 2010).
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554:Roy Allen on the Smit murders
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208:After the end of apartheid,
123:International Monetary Fund
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176:used, with Prime Minister
49:22 November 1977 (aged 44)
193:Bureau for State Security
113:. He was a member of the
83:Robert van Schalkwyk Smit
35:Robert van Schalkwyk Smit
103:Pembroke College, Oxford
16:South African politician
504:The Mail & Guardian
417:The Mail & Guardian
264:Sanders, James (2006).
111:Stellenbosch University
348:. 24 November 1977.
154:Murder investigation
170:Information Scandal
137:constituency, near
61:Cause of death
346:The New York Times
245:. 22 November 2012
107:Rhodes Scholarship
53:Springs, Transvaal
388:on 6 January 2019
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570:1977 deaths
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359:28 November
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318:Politicsweb
72:Economist,
25:Robert Smit
564:Categories
249:2 November
217:References
174:slush fund
76:politician
392:6 January
354:0362-4331
186:Pik Botha
119:apartheid
91:Pik Botha
64:Gunshots
135:Springs
105:, on a
556:(2013)
530:News24
478:News24
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131:Santam
457:(PDF)
197:Beeld
145:Death
538:2021
512:2021
486:2021
425:2021
394:2019
361:2021
350:ISSN
325:2021
272:ISBN
251:2019
191:The
46:Died
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31:Born
243:IOL
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