South African white supremacists jailed for up to 35 years

A group of 20 white supremacists who tried to assassinate Nelson Mandela and overthrow the African National Congress-led government in 2002 received sentences of between five and 35 years at a South African court on Tuesday.

Former university lecturer Mike du Toit and four other ringleaders were given the heaviest sentences, ranging from 25 to 35 years, although all of them have already served at least 10 years.

This inner circle within the group masterminded a plan to set off a revolution in South Africa that intended to drive black people from the country, and establish a racially “pure” nation by killing anyone who opposed them.

Known as the Boeremag or Boer Force, they carried out nine bomb attacks in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, as part of their plot. They blew up railway lines, bridges and a Buddhist temple, and murdered one woman who was hit by shrapnel.

Race war
Mr Mandela was specifically targeted by the group – which wanted to use his death to ignite a race war – with a roadside explosive device planted on the route he was supposed to take when going to open a rural school in Limpopo province. But the former South African president escaped harm when his security changed his plans at the last minute, taking him by helicopter instead.

All of the Boeremag members, who faced charges ranging from high treason to murder, were convicted last year at the Gauteng High Court after a marathon trial that started in 2003. The case, one of the country’s most expensive, cost an estimated €2.7 million in taxpayers’ money because they were granted free legal aid. It was the first high treason trial to take place in post-apartheid South Africa.

When handing down the sentences Judge Eben Jordaan took into consideration that almost half of the accused had already served time in jail during the trial, and as a result he suspended each individual’s sentences to varying degrees.

This meant that five of the convicted men who played lesser roles walked away as free men yesterday.

Judge Jordaan stressed that aside from receiving convictions and jail time, the men had experienced financial ruin, the end of promising careers and, in some cases, ruined marriages.

Two of the group were medical doctors, several more academics and others military officers in the South African defence force, prior to their convictions.

While race relations in South Africa are still problematic, extremist groups like Boeremag have very little support among the white community.