Vanessa Brereton, former human rights lawyer, admits that she was an Apartheid spy

Vanessa Brereton worked as a human rights lawyer in South Africa, taking on high profile cases under the Apartheid regime. When the African National Congress (ANC) was unbanned in 1990, she was unanimously elected as the treasurer for the Port Elizabeth branch. Her loyalty to the ANC seemed unwavering, when in reality, she acted as an informant for the apartheid government. In 1991, she resigned from the South African Security Police, without anyone suspecting her involvement, but in 2003, Bulelani Ngcuka was accused of acting as an apartheid spy under the alias of Agent RS452. It soon emerged that Brereton was Agent RS452, a fact that she finally admitted on 21 October 2003. Brereton claims she was recruited by a British-born spy, who took advantage of her social insecurity. Shortly after meeting him, she started reporting back to him on the anti-apartheid meetings she attended. In 1985, a year after she was recruited, Brereton became an undercover police constable with the designation RS452. At this stage, her legal practice, which largely consisted of defending political activists, had become successful, making her cover as a spy more effective. She was eventually promoted to lieutenant and had regular contact with the security forces at their various safe houses. Brereton resigned from the security forces with the unbanning of the ANC and continued to practice law in the United Kingdom. While she claims that her confession in 2003 was to enable her to live a normal life again, the South African public is left to question the process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as this was the platform on which a confession like Brereton's should have been made.