General Hendrik Johan van den Bergh, SSA (27 November 1914 – 16 August 1997)[1] was a South African police official most famous for founding the Bureau of State Security (B.O.S.S.

He was opposed to South African intervention in World War II, and, with future Prime Minister John Vorster, joined the Ossewabrandwag ("Oxwagon Sentinel"), a paramilitary organisation modelled on the Nazi SA which engaged in acts of sabotage against the South African government to undermine the war effort.

"[5] In the mid-1970s, the burgeoning Angolan Civil War between the pro-Soviet MPLA and the anti-communist UNITA factions, drew the attention of the South African government, which feared growing Soviet infiltration in the region.

Botha and Chief of the Army Magnus Malan advocating an all-out invasion, and Prime Minister Vorster (who had succeeded the assassinated Verwoerd in 1966) and van den Bergh favouring only a limited, covert operation.

became increasingly powerful as the 1970s progressed, much to the dismay of Botha; by some accounts, the organisation now wielded more influence than the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs.

In 1979, Vorster, who had become state president in 1978, resigned amidst the Muldergate scandal, in which government funds were used to buy a pro-government English newspaper, The Citizen.