Cop Under Cover: My life in the shadows with drug lords, robbers and smugglers

By Johann van Loggerenberg

In the 1990s deep-cover police agent RS536 took on the Durban underworld as part of a new organised crime intelligence unit. He rubbed shoulders with drug lords, smugglers and corrupt cops, and was instrumental in busting an international drug ring and foiling a bank heist, among many other dangerous engagements.

But then, as the country’s new democracy birthed a struggle between the old and the new guard in the South African Police Service, his identity and his life came under threat. In this action-packed account, Johann van Loggerenberg describes how, as a young policeman, he worked closely with the investigative team of the Goldstone Commission to uncover the ‘third force’ – apartheid security forces that supplied weapons to the Inkatha Freedom Party to destabilise the country.

He also delves into how and why, at the height of state capture at the South African Revenue Service in 2014, he was falsely accused of being an apartheid spy, a lie that persists up to today. Here, finally, is the truth behind the deep-cover police agent RS536.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Ball
• Release date: Sep 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781868428120

Johann van Loggerenberg

Johann van Loggerenberg is the author of 'Death and Taxes' and co-author with Adrian Lackay of the bestselling 'Rogue: The Inside Story of SARS’s Elite Crime-busting Unit'. He joined SARS in 1998 and ultimately led some of its investigations units until he resigned in 2015 when he became a target with former SARS boss Ivan Pillay and others of various plots to capture and disable the revenue service. Today Van Loggerenberg is a private tax practitioner and advisory consultant.