Farm killings 'not political'

Farm and rural killings should not be politicised and all murders should be treated equally, Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa said on Monday.

Addressing an AgriSA conference in Pretoria on rural safety, Mthethwa said the race card should not be brought into the debate by unions, political parties and other stakeholders to advance their own agenda.

"We do not see it as anything else political or racist, we see it as just crime.

"We cannot sit on different sides of the fence and point fingers, we need to recognise that most farmworkers and farmers are valuable assets."

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Terre'Blanche murder 'political'

The murder of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was no ordinary crime, but a political murder, "probably involving government", the agricultural union TAU-SA said on Tuesday.

"The cruelty and barbaric actions which is evident during such murders, was repeated in the case of Mr Terre'Blanche, and does not relate to the alleged motive," said TAU-SA president Ben Marais.

The situation in South Africa was much worse than the general perception and called for drastic intervention, he said.

"If we look at the course of events during the previous weeks, an upsetting pattern has materialised in which the murder of Mr Eugene Terre'Blanche is but one incident.

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Dina

Grisly details emerge of Terre'Blanche killing

A grisly picture of the killing of right-wing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was painted in court at a bail hearing on Monday.

The Ventersdorp Magistrate's Court heard he was hacked and beaten with a panga and iron rod 28 times while sleeping - and nearly dismembered.

Chris Mahlangu, 27, a slender man, listened impassively as investigating officer Tsietsi Mano testified how the brutality of the Easter Weekend murder had disturbed him.

"He (Terre'Blanche) was sleeping, so he never saw it coming," said Mano, to murmurs of agreement from the late AWB leader's elderly brother, Andries, who sat with hunched shoulders in the front row of the public gallery.

"The brutality was a bitter pill to swallow - he was totally unrecognisable."

Bragged about killing

The court heard how Mahlangu, who shielded his face from photographers with his black Nike tracksuit top, bragged about the killing afterwards. The court outlined how Mahlangu and his co-accused, a 15-year-old youth, broke into Terre'Blanche’s farm house outside Ventersdorp, hacked him to death, pulled his pants down and stole his cellphone.

"They struck him several times in his face, head and body with the iron rod and a panga."

After the murder, "they met three people and accused number one (Mahlangu) told them that he is now their boss because they have killed Mr Terre'Blanche",

Confessed several times
The court was told that Mahlangu confessed to the murder several times and that "the evidence against the accused is overwhelming."

Not only did Mahlangu allegedly brag about killing Terre'Blanche to several farm workers, but he also pointed out the murder scene to police and the blood on his clothes matched that of Terre’Blanche.

Mahlangu also told Mano he would confess.

This led Mano to take him to a magistrate in Klerksdorp where he started making a confession, but was interrupted by his lawyer, Puna Moroko, who burst into the magistrate's office.

Mano read out the report written by the magistrate, Sophia le Roux, who noted that Mahlangu seemed "calm and very at ease with himself".

Also, the report said he did not have any obvious injuries to the body, despite claiming through his Defence Council that he killed Terre'Blanche in self defence.

Click here to read the rest of the story

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From Dina and Jennifer

Terre'Blanche Killer "comfortable"

Supporters of the alleged killers assemble outside the court

The following is from a news report on iol.co.za published on Thursday and submitted by Dina:

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Eugene Terre'Blanche's youngest alleged killer is happy and safe, while his jailed accomplice has his future in the hands of a maverick lawyer.

Both accused - 28-year-old Chris Mahlangu and a 15-year-old minor - abandoned their bail applications at the Ventersdorp Magistrate's Court yesterday, where they were making their second appearance since the murder.

The teenager, accused of murdering Terre'Blanche, traded his freedom for a bed, three meals a day, and the chance to attend school and watch TV at night.

The boy was supposed to apply for bail yesterday, but told his lawyer not to go ahead with the application because he was comfortable at the place of safety where he has been held since his arrest.

Lawyer Zola Majavu said the accused was having experiences he had never had before.

"He is sleeping on a bed for the first time in his life. He is also having three meals a day for the first time. He is also studying, something he was not doing while he was at his home, so there is no need to change the status quo.

"Even the social workers agree that he should be kept there. It is in his best interest that he stays there," Majavu said.

Asked if the teenager was aware that he would have to go back to his hard life if acquitted, Majavu said he was aware, but this would be dealt with it at the relevant time.

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Moroko said Mahlangu would plead not guilty to all charges. He would argue that the two had argued over wages and he had acted in self-defence.

The lawyer confirmed he had abandoned claims of sodomy against Terre'Blanche, despite having earlier alleged that Mahlangu had been sexually assaulted.

The matter was postponed to May 10. Both accused are facing four charges: murder, housebreaking with intent, crimen injuria and attempted robbery.

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Local community members arrived with placards reading "Hey boere stop killing our farm workers and stop raping our black women"; "Boerevolk is in heaven"; "Land for whites is a dream that should not happen"; and "The ANC is not responsible for Terre'Blanche's death".

A helicopter hovered above the court as the crowd of protesters grew throughout the morning and became louder, blowing whistles and vuvuzelas.

Recorded songs such as the banned Dubul' iBhunu (Shoot the Boer) were played over loudspeakers.

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Full news story

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From Dina

Lawyer for Terre'blanche accused withdraws sodomy claim

Eugene Terre'Blanche

Puna Moroko: "I am not satisfied that there was sodomy and my client accepted my advice."

Then the lawyer went on to make a whole lot of new allegations against the victim which you can read here is you are a fan of bad fiction. It will be interesting to see how many different attempts are made to smear the old man's memory before the anticipated pantomime of a trial.

More twists in the Terreblanche killing

IN ANOTHER bizarre twist to the Eugene Terre’Blanche murder the nephew of the slain AWB leader now alleges that the family’s domestic worker had earlier been killed after she allegedly uncovered a plot to have his uncle killed.

Andre Nienaber, who is married to the daughter of Andries Terre’Blanche, a brother of the murdered AWB leader, yesterday also dismissed allegations linking his uncle’s death to a homosexual crime.

“This is just another opportunity to crucify Eugene,” said Nienaber, who acts as spokesperson for the Terre’Blanche family.

Nienaber maintains his uncle’s death was planned.

He alleged that the domestic worker of the Terre’Blanche family, who died on March29, was killed because she had information about a plot to have Terre’Blanche murdered.

The worker, Rosie Nsako, who was buried last Thursday, a day before her employer’s funeral, was employed by the family all her working life.

Nienaber said there were allegations that Nsako’s neck was broken after she stumbled on the plot to have his uncle killed.

However, Rapport newspaper yesterday reported that the police had been in Ventersdorp last week to investigate Nsako’s death and the allegations that she had been murdered on Terre’Blanche’s farm.

The investigation, according to Rapport, found that she had collapsed on the road to Ventersdorp and died a day later in a Klerksdorp hospital.

Meanwhile the church minister who buried AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche on Friday told the Dispatch he has hidden a statement made to him by a paramedic who arrived at the murder scene on the farm where Terre’blanche was killed.

Ventersdorp paramedics chief Robert van Heerden, who made the trip to the farm, has now been silenced by his bosses after he had earlier, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Dispatch, expressed concern about the murder scene.

Full report

Eugene Terreblanche latest farm murder victim

South African white nationalist leader Eugene Terreblanche has been murdered, local media reports say.

Mr Terreblanche was beaten to death on his farm in the north-west of the country, the reports said.

Mr Terreblanche and his Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement - AWB) came to prominence in the early 1980s.

He became the champion of a minority determined to stop the process that was bringing apartheid to an end.

Source

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Related Link: Malema sings "Kill the Boer" ... yesterday