He openly admits to hunting 'terrorists' for the Security Police under the apartheid regime, but Eugene de Kock denies any role in the plot to murder the Cradock Four, saying he did not consider activists against the government to be terrorists against the state.

"Let's get the truth out. Let's sit down and talk the truth," Eugene de Kock said in a somewhat heated exchange at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha on Monday.

The former commander of the apartheid-era police counterinsurgency unit at Vlakplaas shared candid insights and opinions on certain operations he was involved in, as well as the chain of command that he claims went all the way to the erstwhile presidency.

However, he denied any involvement in the planning and execution of the murder of the political activists known as the Cradock Four, and claimed he became "an accessory after the fact" when members of the police Security Branch tried to cover up the murders.

On 27 June 1985, Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto were returning to Nxuba (formerly Cradock) from Gqeberha, but never made it home. It later came to light that they were abducted by members of the Security Branch at a roadblock along the N10 and subsequently assaulted and murdered.

Two inquests have been conducted. The first, in 1987, concluded the men had been killed by "unknown persons", and the second, in 1993, presided over by former Eastern Cape...