He had no qualms over becoming a state witness in the Boeremag treason trial as he was ”not amused” with what the accused were doing, a self-confessed coup plotter told the High Court on Thursday.
Property developer Willem Grobler testified that his attorney had advised him to become a state witness shortly after his arrest, as the evidence against him was overwhelming.
He made a statement to the police and was placed in the witness protection programme shortly afterwards.
He said he would have volunteered to become a witness if the prosecution had not made such an offer because he was not amused with what the accused were doing.
He was also shocked when alleged Boeremag leader Mike du Toit after their arrest gathered several of the accused around him and told them to keep quiet, as the police had ”nothing” against them.
At that stage, Grobler already knew that one of them, J C Smit, was a police spy, as the police had been talking about Smit’s ”handler” in the car after his arrest.
Grobler, who implicated several of the accused, including Mike and Andre du Toit, Rooikoos du Plessis and Adriaan van Wyk, on Wednesday testified about a series of meetings at which a violent coup was planned.
He said Mike du Toit had used the so-called Document 12 as a planning document for the coup, but constantly made changes to the document after consulting with him and others. It was this document that brought him under the false impression that there was a large number of people in rural areas who were ready to carry out the coup plans.
He said he was aware that plans were discussed among some of the accused to get hold of Rooivalk attack helicopters to aid their coup plot.
If the South African National Defence Force resisted, the plan was to place people with hunting rifles around military airports to shoot and kill any pilots who tried to board an attack aircraft.
After the World Trade Centre attack in September 2001, there had also been talk about shooting down an airliner ”to create chaos” in the country, paving the way for a right-wing coup.
At that stage, Mike and the others were already on the run from police.
Grobler remembered meeting with Du Toit and his brother one day and reprimanding them for drawing too much attention to themselves with their heavy beards and sunglasses that looked like welder’s goggles.
The trial started close on two years ago and is expected to take up to three more years to complete, making it one of the most expensive trials ever in the Pretoria High Court.
The Legal Aid Board alone has so far paid out more than R2,8-million to defence counsel and it costs the police about R122 000 per month to transport the accused between the prison and court in a high-security convoy.
The 22 accused have denied guilt on more than 40 charges ranging from high treason to terrorism, causing a series of explosions and murder.
The trial will continue on April 21. — Sapa