/ 3 December 1997

I was a spy, says Richardson

ROBBERS ATTACK AIRPORT

ABOUT 15 robbers armed with AK47 automatic rifles and revolvers broke into a security company’s control room at Johannesburg International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning, assaulted the guards — injuring three of them — and stole 37 firearms.

BOESAK MUST PAY HIS OWN WAY

ALAN BOESAK has lost his court petition for R600 000 to supplement his legal fees in his upcoming fraud trial. Judge MC De Klerk said it would be “unconscionable” for the state’s legal aid to provide a “Rolls Royce” defence for someone who already had R1 million at his disposal, and added that there were many other causes like starving children or dying hospital patients which had a better claim on state aid. Boesak had told the court that a mystery US donor who promised him R1 million to fund his legal bills would pull out unless the Legal Aid Board covered the rest. Boesak, a leading former anti-apartheid spokesman, goes on trial in February on charges of defrauding foreign donors.

FIVAZ SWIPES AT VILJOEN

POLICE chief George Fivaz has critised Freedom Front leader Constandt Viljoen, who called on farmer to take the law into their own hands to protect themselves against a rising tide of crime. Fivaz said farmers themselves were often the obstacle to rural security. Fifteen farmers have been killed since the start of November.

MABONA TOLD TO PAY UP

DISGRACED Mpumalanga safety and security chief Steve Mabona, forced to resign over the ‘licence fraud’ scandal earlier this year, has been ordered to repay the province R52 000. Mabona ran up the bills when he leased a car for the use of his bodyguard.