Marlene Burger
South African chemical warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson was acquitted on all charges against him in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Much of the day was taken up by Judge Willie Hartzenberg’s laboured judgement which comprised a highly detailed summary of about 30 months of evidence. The judgement is bound to cause shock and outrage in South Africa. The state announced it would appeal against the judgement.
Five former South African Defence Force (SADF) generals emerged from retirement on Thursday to show the flag for Basson.
From 8.30am on Thursday, Judge Hartzenberg delivered a tedious summary of the evidence presented by almost 200 witnesses. A large media contingent was frustrated by the fact that, by mid-afternoon, the judge had done no more than rehash the evidence without any indication of how much or little value he attached to it.
Basson faced 23 charges of fraud, arising from the alleged misappropriation of R36-million of Project Coast funds for personal gain; three charges of trafficking in the designer drug Ecstasy; nine murder charges; three counts of conspiracy to murder, including one linked to the Civil Cooperation Bureau’s (CCB) stated objective of eliminating enemies of the apartheid states; four counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm; and one charge each of obstructing justice, attempted intimidation, possession of classified documents, and theft.
Former defence minister Magnus Malan and the ex-chief of the apartheid-era SADF, Constand Viljoen, led the military group. Joep Joubert, commander of special forces during the notorious CCB years, and Dirk Marais, coordinator of the SADF’s successful bid to prevent members applying to the Truth Commission for amnesty, brought up the ranks.
Basson’s mother, Bronwen, and daughter Naomi were also in court.
Basson, who turns 52 in July, appeared to have made a full recovery after suffering a minor stroke a month ago.