Sabotage and Cover-up: Inquiry hears 1967 plane crash ‘wiped out’ man who could’ve altered SA history

In 1967, a tragic plane crash near Kayser's Beach in East London claimed the lives of 25 people, including Joseph Blankfield Blankfield, father of Robyn Lichter, who was just 11 years old at the time. The plane, Springbok Flight 406 "Rietbok," was carrying 25 passengers and crew, among them Professor Johannes Petrus van Schalkwyk Bruwer, a prominent academic and acting chair of the Afrikaner Broederbond.

Bruwer, a friend and speechwriter of former Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, was working on a "five-year plan" for South Africa and had grown disillusioned with the inevitable failure of white minority rule. His family claims that he was a "deeply disillusioned" man when he boarded the plane, en route to Johannesburg.

In a testimony at the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry, Lichter alleged that a state cover-up had occurred, with investigations influenced or halted to prevent the discovery of the truth. She stated that her father's political work was a target, along with another passenger, Audrey Rosenthal, a US citizen who had been gathering information for the banned Defence and Aid Fund for political prisoners and their families.

The families of the crash victims have placed a memorial plaque on Bruwer's grandmother's grave in his memory, as his remains were never found. In 1998, filmmaker Emlyn Brown became involved with the families, presenting a case for a reopening of the investigation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Three articles in the Daily Dispatch in 2019 detailed the cover-up, leading to the discovery of underwater footage showing passengers still strapped to their seats.

Divers who witnessed this footage were reportedly subjected to severe punishment for speaking out about their findings.