Cops brace for demos

2003-05-18 19:30

Elias Maluleke

Pretoria - Hundreds of people are expected to converge at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria on Monday on the first day of the treason trial involving 22 alleged rightwing terrorists linked to the notorious Boeremag organisation.

Pretoria will experience one of its biggest security clampdowns since the 1994 inauguration of former president Nelson Mandela at the Union buildings after the first democratic elections.

The far-rightists will be facing both a sympathetic crowd of rightwingers and a mainly hostile black crowd in a chilly Court C in the Palace of Justice.

The court in Church Square near the main post office, the Pretoria High Court and offices of the National Public Prosecution Authority, last hosted a prominent case when Barend "Wit Wolf" Strydom was in the dock for the murder of eight civilians in 1989.

The other prominent "guests" to appear in the Palace of Justice were former president Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, the recently deceased Walter Sisulu and five other Rivonia treason trialists.

To cope with the large crowds expected to turn up at the trial and to prevent a possible disruption of court proceedings by rightwing sympathisers, members of the SA Police Services and metro police will throw a security dragnet around the city centre.

Demonstrations

No marches and protest actions will be allowed in the immediate vicinity of the court. Those with permits will be allowed to demonstrate far from the court building and the use of loud hailers would be minimised.

The joint security task team includes public order policing, crime prevention and intervention units, the special task force, metro police and the justice department officials.

All roads leading into Church Square will be closed to traffic except tourist buses.

Police and traffic officers announced on Thursday pedestrians would be searched and no hawkers would be allowed anywhere near the building other than those who have stalls.

Those who wish to follow the proceedings will also have to book their seats early because only 120 people will be allowed into the public gallery.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Andre Pruis said the security operation will be tight and no electronics, including cellphones, will be allowed in court.

The accused would also be closely monitored and no communication with members of the public and the media will be allowed.

Pruis said the judge, who will only be known tomorrow, his assessors, the prosecutors and members of the investigation who arrested the suspects, will be provided with a high security cordon for their personal protection.

'Rock 'n roll' National director of public prosecutions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said the state was ready to rock and roll.

"The prosecution team is ready and we are raring to go with this case," he said.

He, however, conceded there were likely to be delays in the proceedings because it was anticipated there could be a trial within a trial as 11 of the accused have indicated they did not recognise the jurisdiction of the court to try them and would not participate in the proceedings.

The accused were initially 23 in number before one of them, Dawid Andries Oosthuizen (27) from Bela Bela, made a dramatic turn on Thursday and pleaded guilty to all the charges. He was on Friday sentenced to eight years in jail.

He is likely to be used as a state witness as a result of his plea bargain with the state.

The rest will face more than 43 criminal charges relating to a plot to overthrow the government and declare their own Boerevolk Republic.

They have also been charged with bomb blasts which rocked Soweto and Witbank last year. Some of the charges include murder and attempted murder.

It is alleged they also hatched a plot to bomb buildings housing the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Johannesburg station, Deutsche Bank in Sandton, and African National Congress headquarters.

- City Press