Some South African National Defence Force (SANDF) bases and their troops were identified in 2001 to help carry out a plan to overthrow the state, the Pretoria High Court heard in the Boeremag treason trial on Wednesday.
Police informer Johannes Coenraad Smit, the first state witness, also told the court convicted extremists Barend Strydom and De Wet Kritzinger had been identified to him as some of those behind the planning of the coup.
Smit testified that a certain Kobus von Marle told him and accused number three, Adriaan van Wyk, in April that year that the Thabazimbi, Zeerust and Wonderboom SANDF bases had been identified as possible allies in the coup plot.
Meetings to this end had taken place with the commanding officers of several commandos and generals, including former police general Lothar Neethling. A meeting with Colonel Chris Zeeman, commander of Wonderboom commando, proved to be unsuccessful.
Both Smit and Van Wyk were members of that commando.
Von Marle proposed Van Wyk, a special forces operative, as a coup leader for the Pretoria area, Smit said. — Sapa