South Africa: Out of Luck

A KGB caper in Cape Town

South African Commodore Dieter Gerhardt, 47, seemed the very model of a modern military man. Tall, balding and highly intelligent, with an intense, abrasive manner, the Berlin-born naval officer moved in high South African defense circles and was personally acquainted with Premier P.W. Botha. Gerhardt's home at the Simonstown Naval Base near Cape Town was the envy of his neighbors; it was expensively decorated with Persian rugs and works of art. When visitors asked how he managed to live like an admiral on a commodore's income, Gerhardt had a ready reply: he had received...

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