Pretoria

The office of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, former Spanish President José María Aznar and the United States Navy Seals all had some connection to the alleged attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, the Pretoria Regional Court heard on Monday.

Department of Home Affairs officials may have acted ”suspiciously” when they deported Pakistani immigrant Khalid Rashid, but there was no sufficient proof that they knew he was wanted for questioning in connection with alleged acts of terror when he was handed to Pakistani authorities, three high court judges have ruled.

The office of President Thabo Mbeki was regularly informed about the progress of an alleged attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, the Pretoria Regional Court heard on Monday. State witness Sean Abdinor, who arranged aviation logistics for the coup, told the court he was informed of this by alleged coup planner Simon Mann and his personal assistant, James Kershaw.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula may know where deported Pakistani national Khalid Rashid is, Rashid’s attorney claimed in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Zehir Omar, attorney for Rashid’s family, asked a full bench of the Pretoria High Court, headed by Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, to allow him to place ”new information” before them.

Increased security measures have been taken at Pretoria’s C-Max prison to prevent the Boeremag treason trial accused from escaping, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday. Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour earlier this week applied for two previous court orders, dealing with the incarceration of 12 of the 22 Boeremag accused, to be set aside.

The South African government was prepared to look the other way while a coup was carried out in Equatorial Guinea, it was alleged in the Pretoria Regional Court on Thursday. State witness Crause Steyl told the court that the government knew what was being planned. He was the second state witness to do so.

There is nothing to suggest that the Department of Correctional Services has any real fears that an escape plan allegedly hatched by former Boeremag escapees Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws will actually be carried out if they are held in the same section of the C-Max prison, a high court judge said on Wednesday.

Deported Pakistani Khalid Rashid’s lawyer on Wednesday claimed he had new information suggesting the South African government is hiding information about the man’s whereabouts. Attorney Zehir Omar, acting for Rashid’s family, this week filed an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court, requesting the court to accept an affidavit containing the ”new facts”.

Details of how the alleged coup in Equatorial Guinea was to be staged were revealed for the first time in the Pretoria Regional Court on Wednesday. Equatorial Guinea’s President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was to be lured to the airport with the promise of new 4X4 vehicles.

A state witness could not deny on Tuesday that the eight accused in the Equatorial Guinea coup trial may have been ignorant of the plot. Cross-examined in the Pretoria Regional Court on Tuesday, James Kershaw (27) said he himself only found out about the alleged coup two days before the group flew out of South Africa.

The Department of Correctional Services is conducting medical tests on fraud convict Schabir Shaik to determine whether he should remain in hospital or go back to jail. ”Specialists are in the process of conducting a medical examination to assess his condition in order to arrive at a second opinion,” Correctional services spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said on Monday.

Carlos Parreira, Bafana Bafana’s new coach, and his assistant do not have legal working status in South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs confirmed on Friday. Spokesperson Mantshele wa ga Tau said Parreira and Jairo Lopes Cesar Leal had arrived in the country on visitors’ permits.

A defence lawyer for two of the eight men allegedly involved in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea hinted on Thursday that the South African government might have given its permission for the attempt. Defence lawyer Alwyn Griebenow was cross-examining state witness Johannes Smit in the Pretoria Regional Court.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Africa bearing the usual gifts of money for soccer stadiums and interest-free loans, but is also acknowledging tensions. Unmentioned, as Beijing adds lustre to Africa’s renewed status as a strategic ally, is the possibility of a clash with the United States as the two vie for resources and influence on the continent.

The eight men charged with contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act by planning a coup in Equatorial Guinea pleaded not guilty in the Pretoria Regional Court on Wednesday. The eight accused are part of a group of 61 who returned to South Africa in 2005 after spending more than a year in a Zimbabwean prison.

Bok van Blerk’s song De la Rey is not nearly as ”potentially subversive as former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s song Umshini Wami, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday. The DA was reacting to a warning from the Department of Arts and Culture that De la Rey was in danger of being ”hijacked” by right wingers.

The countrywide community survey that will collect geographic, social and economic data from 284 000 South African households got under way on Wednesday with no hitches, Statistics South Africa said. The survey will help assess the effect of socio-economic policies and measure municipal service delivery.

President Hu Jintao, apparently seeking to ease concerns over China’s investment drive in Africa, said on Wednesday that Beijing’s business interests would not hurt the continent. Speaking at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Hu frequently used the word ”trust” to outline his vision of China’s economic ties with Africa.

A 21-gun salute, honour guard and parade of South African government ministers led by President Thabo Mbeki welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday. Hu started his two-day state visit to South Africa with talks with President Thabo Mbeki.

The Afrikaans song, De la Rey, by Bok van Blerk is in danger of being ”hijacked” by right wingers who want to mislead Afrikaans speakers into believing the song is a struggle song that sends out a ”call to arms”, the Department of Arts and Culture warned on Tuesday.

The eight men accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea had their case postponed in the Pretoria Regional Court on Tuesday. Defence attorney Margie Victor requested the case be postponed for a day in order to give a response to documents handed to them by the state.

Chinese President Hu Jintao was due in South Africa on Tuesday to cement ties with Beijing’s key trading partner on the continent and a crucial ally in pushing the interests of the world’s have-nots. He is scheduled to hold talks with counterpart Thabo Mbeki during his two-day visit, sign trade agreements and discuss a raft of bilateral issues.

The Afrikanerbond will use its influence to strengthen the economy, the political and justice systems and broaden cultural links to improve the country for all its citizens, its board of directors said on Monday. They met over the weekend to discuss the once-secretive organisation’s future.

One of the men accused of planning a thwarted coup in Equatorial Guinea turned state witness on Monday in a trial seen as a test of South Africa’s hardened stance on mercenary activity. Charges were dropped in the Pretoria Regional Court against Maitre Ruakuluka of South Africa.

Reports that more names will be added to the United Nations Security Council list of terror suspects come from the media, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Monday. Pahad said he read in media reports that there had been a meeting with a ”United States senior official who did not want to be named” who said more names would be added.