Pretoria - A prominent Boeremag member will appear in the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court on charges of rape and sexual grooming of minors.
The man, who is known to Pretoria News but could not be named before his appearance, was rearrested in Boschkop, Pretoria on Tuesday.
At the time of his arrest he was out on parole for allegedly committing the same crimes.
The Pretoria News was reliably informed that the man arrested was part of the right-wing Boeremag group that plotted to assassinate former president Nelson Mandela.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed to the media that the police were investigating cases of rape and sexual grooming when they were led to the arrest of the 46-year-old suspect.
“The police can confirm that cases of rape and sexual grooming were opened at Boschkop police station and then transferred to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for investigation which led to the arrest,” Masondo said.
He said the crimes were allegedly committed in a remote community of Kleinfontein in Pretoria. The man had not appeared by time of publication.
The Boeremag was accused of attempting to overthrow the ANC government while allegedly plotting to murder Mandela. Police arrested 26 members of the right-wing group who were planning to blow up railway lines and attack the police air wing at Grand Central Airport, bridges and a Buddhist temple.
The 46-year-old suspect was among the 20 members of the Boeremag convicted by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria for high treason where their sentences ranged from five to 48 years in 2013.
He was previously found guilty for his role in a series of bomb attacks in Soweto, one of which killed a woman in 2002.
Some of those who were convicted in 2013 were the leader, Tom Vorster, and five members of its bomb squad, which was responsible for blowing up their targets. Vorster and bombers Herman van Rooyen, Johan and Wilhelm Pretorius, and Rudi Gouws received 25 years’ imprisonment.
Other leaders Mike du Toit, Dirk Hanekom and the Pretorius brothers' father, Dr Lets Pretorius, were each sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment, of which 10 years were conditionally suspended for five years. Mike du Toit’s right-hand man, Andre du Toit, and Dion van den Heever were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment of which 10 years were suspended.
Most of these members were later quietly released on parole in 2020.
Pretoria News