Photographs of the gruesome scene where a Soweto woman died in an explosion allegedly forming part of the Boeremag’s violent coup plot were shown to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday.
Colour photos of the scene where Claudia Mokone was murdered in the early hours of October 29 2002 formed part of a bundle of photos handed in by the state.
The heavy piece of metal railway track that fell through the roof of Mokone’s shack and killed her on the bed where she and her husband were sleeping was also handed in as evidence.
Police explosives expert Captain Albertus La Grange testified that Mokone’s husband was still sitting on the bed when he arrived at the scene. His face was severely disfigured.
La Grange had found the metal bar in a hole in the bed under Mokone’s body.
He said although he later also attended the scene of an explosion at a nearby railway line in Soweto, where a piece of the track was missing, he was not in charge of that investigation.
The explosion that killed Mokone was allegedly one of a series of bomb explosions forming part of the Boeremag’s bid to create chaos and pave the way for a violent right-wing coup.
The 22 Boeremag accused denied guilt three years ago on 42 charges, including high treason, terrorism, sabotage, murder, attempted murder, causing explosions and the illegal possession of explosives, firearms and ammunition.
Self-confessed Boer bomber Deon Crous testified in October 2004 that the explosions were planned with military precision while he and other members of the Boeremag were already on the run from police.
He told the court how he and five of the accused — Herman van Rooyen, Rudi Gouws and the Pretorius brothers Johan, Kobus and Wilhelm — read from he Bible and prayed before leaving on their bombing mission late in October 2002. They even named the 10 bombs after their wives and girlfriends.
Crous said one group planted bombs at a bridge and railway line in Soweto and the other at a railway line, mosque and a taxi rank. They fled to KwaZulu-Natal after the bombings.
He said they were glad when they heard the bombs had exploded and regarded the death of a woman in the process as her ”paying for her sins”.
Crous said the group afterwards hid at the farms and houses of supporters and manufactured more explosives with fertiliser supplied by one of its supporters.
He said Herman van Rooyen was adamant that they should continue making explosives. Crous later heard that Van Rooyen had been involved in bomb explosions at Grand Central airport and a bridge at Port Edward.
They also talked about using car bombs and once discussed making shrapnel bombs ”to put in shopping centres and on the streets”.
Crous was on his way to Marabastad in Pretoria — allegedly with a massive car bomb — when he was arrested.
The trial continues. — Sapa