I was ordered to kill Cyril Ramaphosa – De Kock

iReport South Africa | 28.03.2026 19:33

Eugene de Kock, a former police commander during the apartheid era, claimed that President Cyril Ramaphosa was on a hit list that he obtained from his superiors. This revelation was shocking.

This astonishing statement was made during a session at the High Court in Gqeberha, where de Kock was giving testimony in the revival of the inquiry into the infamous killings of the Cradock Four.

Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Fort Calata were some of the individuals who were kidnapped and murdered in 1985 by agents of the South African government’s Security Branch and the notorious Vlakplaas death squad. The investigation is still looking into the terrible circumstances surrounding their deaths.

During his testimony, de Kock distanced himself from the actual deaths of the Cradock Four. However, he did confess that he had been given a list of 33 individuals who were slated for assassination, and that Ramaphosa’s name was included on the list.

He detailed the manner in which he disobeyed the order and asserted that Ramaphosa was not a terrorist organization.

There were a lot of folks that the higher-ups wanted eliminated. Their intentions were called into doubt, and I enquired, “Why don’t you do it yourselves?” I had a list of thirty-three names, and one of them was the president who is currently in office. They wanted him to be killed, but I refused to back down and insisted that he was innocent,” de Kock explained further.

Users of social media platforms expressed a wide range of viewpoints in response to the discoveries, which triggered a flurry of emotions throughout the platform. A thought-provoking inquiry was presented by Walter Matebesi, which was as follows: “Who ordered the assassination of Chris Hani?”

In response to Serame Motshoni’s inquiry, “And then what went wrong?” several individuals shared their perspectives on the matter. It was Mike Haywood Woodhouse who made the observation that “Anglo American and Glencore needed Cyril better.”

The sentiment was mirrored by Freeman Batyi, who questioned the reasons behind the assassination of Hani.

In response to the story that has been told about Ramaphosa, Moguy O’lekker made the following observation: “They want us to believe that Cupcake wasn’t a puppet.” In a satirical manner, Teekay Moreri posed the question, “Why would anyone want to kill Cyril?” Mysterio Wong Fei Hung refuted the idea that Ramaphosa was a threat to the nation. Where would he stand to benefit from it?

Thabo Monare focused on the major role that Cyril Ramaphosa had in politics during the apartheid era, underlining his integrity by pointing out that he refused to accept bribes while he was leading the strikes taken by mine workers. Similarly to Desmond Tutu, he made the observation that while being targeted, he remained untouchable.

While this was going on, Moeketsi Moletsane proposed the following hypothesis: “Lol, Ramaphosa must have promised him millions to say this.” The term “sell-out” is something he is working hard to forget.

The assertions made by de Kock were refuted by Siphiwe Biyela, who questioned the existence of a spy on the Apartheid radar and pointed out that the African National Congress (ANC) administration has been providing financial support to de Kock.