LONDON ā In three decades as an editor I’ve worked with only a few journalistic superstars. One is Chris Steyn, co-author of the book shaking South African to its roots. – Alec Hogg
This is The Rational Perspective. Iām Alec Hogg and in this episode, Chris Steyn – author of the best-selling book The Lost Boys of Bird Island. During the 1980ās, South African newspaper newsrooms were magnets for fascinating characters. Among those larger-than-life personalities that I worked with back then, was the late Geoff Allen ā a rotund, highly-opinionated and ever-acerbic journalist at The Rand Daily Mail, an award-winning anti-apartheid newspaper that very sadly, was closed down in 1985. Allen, an investigative journalist, is the unlikely starting point for an almost fantastical story about a ring of powerful paedophiles who preyed on street children and operated with impunity: this, all through the late stages of the apartheid era.
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Their nefarious deeds have been exposed in a recently released bestseller The Lost Boys of Bird Island co-authored by another of my former colleagues, journalistic thoroughbred Chris Steyn. Iāve always been a huge fan of Chrisā work, having seen close-up how she has made exposing the truth her only priority ā regularly speaking out against the powerful on behalf of those who do not have a voice. Much has happened in the few weeks since the publication of this bestseller. Most dramatically, the suicide last month of Chrisā co-author, Mark Minnie. Chris has also been the subject of a sustained attack by some of Afrikanerdomās formerly powerful figures including a scathing accusation over the weekend by an apartheid Police General, that she and Minnie made it all up.
So, we caught up last week, kicking off the conversation by swapping notes about Geoff Allen, brother of Dave ā a central character in the hard-hitting book.
Well, I was working at The Citizen. That was my second job in journalism and Geoff suggested to Paul Bell (who was news editor of The Rand Daily Mail) to recruit me because Geoff was worried that I was scooping him, so we started working together at The Rand Daily Mail.
Of course, he was the brother of one of the central characters in the book.
Yes, Geoff was the brother of Dave Allen. Dave Allen was Wileyās first friend who was the first to die. It was his death on a beach near Port Elizabeth that sparked the investigations into the story. I contacted Geoff about it and he then spoke to me at length about what his brother had been up to.
And then, did he also tell you about the connections with these very powerful people?
Yes, he did. He spoke quite openly to me about that. He was quite worried about his own safety so he was careful how he coached things but he confirmed the links because by then, it had emerged that Dave Allen had told Mark Minnie (the detective in the case) that he was not the only one involved in these alleged paedophilic activities and that he was not going to go down alone and he then named certain Cabinet Ministers. That sparked Minnieās investigation but of course, I didnāt yet know about that until after Dave Allenās death.
So, you then had the inside scoop (almost) from Geoff, which you couldnāt quote him on ā clearly, as a fellow journalist ā way back, 30 years ago.
Yes, because I first became aware of a possible link between Dave Allen and John Wiley after John Wileyās death. Somebody called me and told me to look at the link between the deaths of two men, and thatās when I called Geoff Allen and Geoff spoke to me. He was only one of my sources.
But, a hell of a source.
Absolutely, because he was close to his brother and had apparently known about these things for a long, long time. Geoff was a great investigative journalist and you couldnāt keep secrets from Geoff, so I was not surprised that his brother couldnāt keep secrets from him.
So, back in 1987, while Chris was digging from the outside into the mysterious related suicides of a leading Port Elizabeth businessman (David Allen) and a National Party Cabinet Minister (John Wiley), narcotics detective Mark Minnie was the cop on the case.
So, Iād been to Port Elizabeth and Iād seen everybody who was willing to see me at the time, including my deep-throat in the National Party and I decided to try to speak to the investigating officer. As you know, in those years a reporter could not approach an investigating officer directly. One had to go through police spokespeople who sanitised the versions of what one was allowed to print, but I did contact him. He did agree to see me. We met briefly in the foyer of a hotel. I had completely forgotten about that meeting because it was so useless at the time, until we met again 30 years later and he reminded me of how dramatic it had been. I donāt quite believe that he had two snipers on me. I think that was a bit of artistic license there but I believe he was very paranoid for his own safety at the time because two people had died under very mysterious circumstances. He was investigating really high-profile people and this reporter comes along and drops names in his lap. He recalled saying to me, āF#&k off, you bitch. Youāre going to get me killed.ā That was after he had confirmed to me (off the record) what Allen had said to him. Of course, I couldnāt use any of that at the time and I completely put it out of my mind.
But thatās so frustrating, as a journalist, isnāt it? Youāve now got that inside information from the investigative officer. Youāve got the brother of one of the key characters so you know the story, but to corroborate it or to prove itā¦
Well, I also had a source high up in the National Party who told me that the cabinet knew and that source had somebody on the island ā somebody who worked there, who stayed there, and who was essentially an eyewitness to certain events. So, I felt really strongly about the story. I could not believe why that was not good enough. Because we couldnāt name the deep-throat and because we couldnāt reveal that we had confirmation from the investigating officer, it made it a very challenging story to try and get into print. I stayed on the story for about six weeks but eventually, I had to move on when I was at The Cape Times because I often had to write the most important three stories of the day, so I couldnāt stay on the story. When I devoted a chapter to that in my book in āpublishing, be damnedā (I think it was in 2006), I did make further enquiries from people who were not my contacts at the time but whom Iād subsequently met and who knew things e.g. Security Branch policemen who would never have spoken to me at the time. So, I got the corroboration and it made me feel once again, very strongly about the story. Then, when Mark came forward with his story and Tafelberg decided to publish his book and then contacted me, I started making enquiries again. So, on and off over the years, Iāve tried to work on the story. As I told somebody this morning, Iām trying to finish writing a story that I started 31 years ago.
What started as a small contribution to Minnieās book for publishers Tafelberg, subsequently developed into full-blown collaboration by the two of them.
He didnāt even know that I had written a chapter on it in a book. Somebody close to him (I think it was one of his exes) found my book and sent him the chapter. He sent it to Tafelberg. This is how I think it went down. Tafelberg contacted me and asked me if I would write the foreword to Markās book, which I agreed to do. I was really happy that he had decided to come forward. While we were working on the book, Tafelberg decided to extend my brief to writing my own narrative that could be interwoven with Markās narrative so that it would be two parallel investigations done by people who could not cooperate and yet, came to the same conclusion. Thatās how the book came about.
The Lost Boys of Bird Island book hit the South African market hard, evoking strong emotions. Since its publication, social media has been buzzing nonstop and the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport devoted hundreds of column centimetres to both sides ā much of the debate being focussed on the naming of two apartheid Cabinet Ministers in the book. Particularly, the once all-powerful former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan, a man lampooned by cartoonists during his lifetime because of his protruding ears. Also, the man referred to by the street kids in the book as āoreā or āearsā.
I think the people who are refusing to believe this are people who canāt believe that the poster boy of apartheid was capable of something like that. I think people are not necessarily defending an individual. I think they are defending an ideology or a government. Theyāre defending Afrikaners because this is damaging to the reputation of Afrikaners. Itās damaging to the reputation of the previous government, as it were. Thatās how I feel. I find it odd that theyāre not defending Wiley. Why are they not defending Wiley? Why would they believe it of Wiley but not of Malan? Is it because Wiley was English-speaking and not a member of the Broederbond? So, theyāre happy to believe that he was capable of such heinous deeds, but not Malan.
And the third Cabinet Minister you havenāt named for legal reasons, I presume.
Yes.
So, heās still alive.
We havenāt named him but there seems to have been some confusion amongst ex-Ministers as to who it could be. Who was going to say something? Who was not going to say something? No, we havenāt named him and Iām not planning to name him. Obviously, now that the Human Rights Foundation is doing an independent investigation, Iām really hoping that one day we could move to the point of prosecution. They offered to become involved even before Markās death. Unfortunately, it was too late for Mark. That was all Mark ever wanted ā an independent, thorough investigation into the allegations and heās not alive to see that. Yes, the Human Rights Foundation is busy with an independent investigation. Ideally, we would like to get to the point where there could be prosecution. However, we are dealing with a situation where victims were vulnerable street children, many of whom are no longer alive. Children who then, were fed drugs and alcohol and ended up on the street or in prison. They are not queuing up in Exclusive Books with a platinum credit card to buy the book. For those victims to come forward is not easy because many of them wonāt even know that the book has been written. There are others who are fragile ā really fragile ā and damaged people who canāt be put through this process. Itās a challenge to find victims or to bring forward victims who are strong enough to go through the process that would be required.
Mark Minnie. You mentioned that he has passed on. There are all kinds of confusion about how he died.
I do believe that he physically shot himself but, in my mind, it was remote murder. I believe that he was driven to kill himself. The morning of his death, he was on deadline ā literally. He was in a big hurry to get it done. Alec, Iāve been told how these things work. Itās not that difficult to drive somebody to suicide. It would have been a simple phone call from a disposable telephone. āMark, you have until Monday morning 10 oāclock. You know what to do and if you donāt, the following will happen.ā So, he would have done anything to protect certain people. He wouldnāt have done it because he feared for his own life although there were people who were looking for him.
Devastated by the news that Mark Minnie co-author of Lost Boys of Bird Island has been found dead in the Eastern Cape from an apparent suicide….something is amiss
— MarianneThamm (@MarianneThamm) August 14, 2018
Did you talk about this before the book was published ā that there would a threat to your lives?
You know, I donāt think it was something we really worried about. As an investigative journalist, that has been part of my work. Itās not something Iāve ever taken that seriously. It was part of Markās work too, as a police officer. I donāt think either of us really worried about that. We were just excited that the truth was finally going to be put out there. We didnāt even think about anything like that.
Did he have any idea, going into the writing or at the time of the publication of the book that it was going to be something that would take his life? We know he was damaged himself, at a young age. Hence, his obsession with this. Whatās your sense of his state of mind, as it were?
Mark had been through so much in his life. I think suicide was the last thing on his mind. I donāt believe that his death was part of a script for him. Absolutely not. He had written a second book (not on Bird Island). He was working on a third book. He was looking forward to being a writer. He was hoping that there would be some cold case unit on which he could work and contribute towards investigating these kinds of cold cases and that he could help bring justice for people like himself who were raped as children. He had a lot to live for and he was a very good father. He would not just have left his children. He was anti-suicide because of what it would do to children. So, no. I was in regular contact with him. I think that if he had felt suicidal, he would have told me. If it was normal āI canāt take thisā kind of suicide, he would have told me but the reason he didnāt tell me was because he knew I would have tried to stop him and he could not afford to have been stopped and he had his own reasons for that.
Did he leave any notes or clues as to why he did this?
He left two notes. They were very similar. Basically, both said the same thing ā that he had been haunted for 31 years by the pitiful cries of the lost boys of bird island and he urged me to keep going. He urged me not to give up. He said, āYouāre almost home. No government officials preventing you from investigating this time around.ā He knew I would keep going and he just couldnāt finish the job with me. I am keeping going. Weāre processing new leads every day. Iāve decided to cooperate with the Human Rights Foundation to make their job easier. Whatever I get, I pass onto them. Yes, I am keeping going. One way or another, Iām keeping going. I canāt give up now. I really canāt.
The tragic death of Mark Minnie, either by his own hand nor not, sends a message to others who dare delve into this particular diabolical story of the abuse of power. It serves perhaps as a warning. The sooner the truth comes out the better #RIPMarkMinnie #LostBoys
— MarianneThamm (@MarianneThamm) August 14, 2018
So, what motivates you?
What motivated me from the start was ājustice for voiceless peopleā. These kids would never have been believed by anybody. Even if it had just been a local teacher who had raped them, they would not have been believed. These were utterly voiceless people. No-one would have believed them. No-one would have spoken up for them. I think this book is not just about them. Itās about all those children who have endured something like that at the hands of powerful people and who have lived with blame and shame their whole lives. Hopefully, this will give people the courage to speak up in the hope that they will be believed by someone.
Have you been to Bird Island itself where all of this happened?
No, I havenāt been because it was a restricted area at the time. Many people ask, āWhy didnāt you go there?ā Well, I couldnāt have gone there unless I got parachuted in illegally because it was controlled by the government. The islands were controlled by the government. One couldnāt just visit it.
Hence, it would be a very useful place if you were high up in government and wanted to do nefarious deeds.
Yes, you could have done whatever you felt like in complete secrecy and the people on the island were lowly workers who would have known better than to say anything or, you would obviously not necessarily have been privy to anything except those who used binoculars and leopard-crawl to go and see what was going on, and that did happen.
How big was this ring?
It looks like it was much bigger and some of those people appear to be around still. It also appears, from information weāve been getting in, that the ring operated in other places as well. Not all members of it but some members of it. Places like Grahamstown and other places (and in Cape Town) so itās far bigger than we thought. I think the book is literally one of the ātip of the icebergā type of books. This was something people were prepared to kill for. I donāt think of my own safety. I definitely do not live in fear. I never have as a journalist otherwise itās not the kind of job I would have done. Even if I lived in fear, all I have to do is think of the children and my safety will become completely irrelevant.
So, what are you hoping is going to happen with all of this? If you could look back say, in two or three yearsā time, what would your ideal consequence be of the book?
Well, the Holy Grail would be a prosecution but if we donāt get to that point then certainly, I would like to see more people publicly held accountable for knowing and doing nothing to stop it because the silence of people who have known for 31 years: that silence is claiming victims. It has claimed Markās life. His children. His family. They are victims too. The families of the perpetratorsā¦these are victims whom we didnāt have to have if people had not kept silent, if people did not take part in a cover-up. Even now, people who definitely had to have known, are pretending they know nothing about it because they are afraid of being held accountable. They donāt want to be seen as culpable but they are.
And the book itself: has it been well-received? Are the publishers seeing it on the bestseller lists?
I believe so. I believe it is selling well and from that point of view, Iām just grateful that itās raising awareness ā that it is possible to be believed. Speak out. Come forward. Come and tell your story. There are people who are going to believe you. You donāt have to suffer in silence and pass on this unbelievable pain from generation to generation.
Chris Steyn left newspapers some years back. She now lives in the usually quiet Cape seaside resort of Hermanus where she co-owns a second-hand bookstore. This has been The Rational Perspective. Until the next time, cheerio.
