Statement

Comrade Dieter Gerhardt passed away on 8th July 2026, at the age of 91.

He was a principled combatant against apartheid who found a unique way to contribute to its demise. His role as an underground operative from 1962 to 1983 for the Soviet Union’s foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU, had a singularly destructive impact on the apartheid war machine.  

For 21 years, Dieter worked undercover for the GRU while occupying strategic positions in the old South African Defence Force, including as a commander of the strategic naval base at Simonstown and a member of the Comops Secretariat during the South African invasion of Angola in 1975.  

He enabled the Soviet Union to develop an unusually detailed understanding of South Africa’s military capabilities and strategic vulnerabilities, as well as its naval mobilisation plans. To provide such information during the height of the Cold War was invaluable.

After Dieter was arrested in New York in January 1983 by the FBI and interrogated by several Western intelligence services, he was flown back to South Africa to stand trial. He received a life sentence but was released in August 1992 by the de Klerk government as part of the normalisation of relations between South Africa and the then-newly established Russian Federation. Dieter’s wife, Ruth, received a 10-year sentence for acting as his courier.

Despite efforts by detractors to claim otherwise, Dieter’s espionage against the apartheid South African military was motivated by a deep hatred of racism and the injustice of the apartheid system since he was a young serviceman in the navy. This led him to contact the Soviet Union, believing he was in a key position from which to positively influence the outcome of the struggle.

When he was released from prison, he stated, “I did not feel like a traitor…I was a political activist fighting the evil regime of apartheid.”

Dieter was a warm person with a strong capacity for empathy and was much loved by comrades, fellow prisoners, friends, and even political opponents.  Until his passing, he continued to contribute his deep strategic understanding of geopolitics and of defence matters.

The Veterans League sends deepest condolences to Dieter’s wife, Ruth, offspring Tom, Ingrid and Gregory, grandchildren Samuel, ⁠Andrew, ⁠Kirsten, Ben and Henry, as well as to his friends and comrades who were privileged to share personal time with this remarkable man.

ANC Veterans’ League President, Snuki Zikalala.

END//.

ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS VETERANS LEAGUE.

Enquiries:

ANC Veterans League President

Comrade Dr Snuki Zikalala

082 561 3900