Apart from selling sunflowers and sheep to finance their alleged coup plot, the Boeremag also talked of ”hijacking” a grain harvest and arranging a cash-in-transit heist, the Pretoria High Court heard on Wednesday.
According to police spy Johan (JC) Smit, who has claimed to have infiltrated the Boeremag’s inner circle while secretly reporting to the police, there had been discussions about ways to make money during some of the Boeremag meetings.
Cash-in-transit heists, he said, would probably have been carried out by ”operators” — usually commando members — that the Boeremag wanted to recruit as part of their plan to take over the country.
Smit earlier testified that financing for the alleged coup would have included a crop of sunflowers and 200 sheep donated by Free State farmers as well as R10 000 from alleged Boeremag leader Mike du Toit’s retirement package.
He could however not say how the Boeremag had planned to finance an ambitious countrywide take-over plan with so little money, and admitted there had just been ”a lot of talking” at the meetings he attended in 2001 and 2002.
Accused by defence counsel Louisa van der Walt of using the word coup ”loose and fast”, Smit insisted that the word was used at some meetings — a claim denied by the defence at the treason trial.
The court was also told that one of the accused, Tom Vorster, was planning to lay a charge of assault against the driver of the police vehicle transporting some of the accused to and from court.
This followed an incident on Wednesday morning when Vorster claimed he was assaulted by a policeman.
A meeting was held on Wednesday between the judge, police and defence counsel to resolve the 22 accused’s numerous complaints about the manner in which they were being transported. Many of the accused claimed to have been injured while being transported at high speed.
The trial continues on Thursday. – Sapa