South Africa: Court hears of Mandela assassination attempt

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The Western Cape High Court in South Africa has heard dramatic testimony about an alleged plot by the police to assassinate former President Nelson Mandela.

The testimony was given by Maj.-Gen. Andre Lincoln, who was appointed by Mandela in 1996 to head a special presidential investigative task unit which operated separately from the police.

Lincoln’s attorney, Johann Nortje, told the court that the sniper rifle, to be used in killing Mandela, had been discovered in the office of the national commissioner. The High Court in Pretoria issued a search warrant for the office to be searched after investigations into the alleged plot were blocked by police.

He said the operation never proceeded because the intelligence structures of Mandela’s African National Congress became aware of the plan.

A group of white supremacists who plotted to assassinate Mandela and reinstate apartheid rule with a coup were convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. It followed a decade-long trial at Pretoria’s High Court which saw a total of 21 members of the far right Boeremag (“Afrikaner Force”) found guilty for treason for the planned 2002 assassination attempt.

Lincoln claims he was targeted by the police and subsequently arrested on trumped up charges. He is now suing the Police Department for US$1.1 million for the "malicious investigation and instigation of prosecution" against him.

Lincoln told the court that police planned to kill the global statesman at his 1994 inauguration and an investigation into the alleged incident was covered up.
-0- PANA CU/VAO 14March2017