Police have worked through the night in the search for two Boeremag treason trial accused who escaped from the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.
”They have been working through the night but at this moment in time there have been no new developments,” said Director Sally de Beer, national police spokesperson.
Herman van Rooyen (33) and Rudi Gouws (28) went missing during the lunch hour recess. One of them had allegedly bankrolled the organisation.
”We have launched a massive search to track down these two, and are investigating the circumstance under which they went missing,” De Beer said earlier.
Van Rooyen was caught in Pretoria in December 2002 in a bakkie allegedly rigged with 384kg of explosives and two bags of nuts and bolts for shrapnel.
At the time it was speculated that the car bomb was meant for a soccer game between Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld.
Van Rooyen was believed to have access to a R40-million inheritance and to be bankrolling the Boeremag’s activities.
The evening before Van Rooyen’s arrest, Gouws was caught when he was lured into a police trap in Pretoria.
Their trial began in late 2003. Along with them were 20 other men, also charged with plotting a right-wing coup d’etat. They face 42 charges including murder, attempted murder, treason, terrorism, sabotage and arms and explosives offences.
The trial was postponed several times due to problems with legal aid board payments, lawyers and matters such as the accused complaining of loud music in prison.
At one stage the accused threatened urgent legal action when Correctional Services informed them they were to be put in communal cells while their single cells were being renovated at Pretoria Local Prison.
They were eventually moved to a closed-off section at C-Max after negotiations with the department.
In 2004 a woman due to visit Van Rooyen was caught trying to smuggle five pre-paid telephone cards and a personal letter to him.
This year several witnesses testified about the explosions that rocked Soweto and the Buddhist Temple in Bronkhorstspruit, allegedly set off as part of the Boeremag’s campaign.
The trial was adjourned until Thursday, when it would be decided if it should proceed without the two. – Sapa