Sodomy will not feature in the defence of the two accused of murdering Eugene Terre’Blanche, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader.
Puna Moroko, the lawyer representing accused Chris Mahlangu (28), said this week that the defence would rely solely on an alleged wage dispute between Terre’Blanche and the suspects — Mahlangu and a 15-year-old minor who cannot be named.
Terre’Blanche was bludgeoned to death at Easter on his Ventersdorp farm. The accused, who allegedly confessed to the police, face charges of murder, housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances, and attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Mahlangu’s bail hearing was postponed this week to May 10. The minor did not apply for bail and will return to court on May 14.
Moroko initially told the Sunday Times that Terre’Blanche had tried to get his client drunk before attempting to have sex with him. “My instructions from my client are that there was some sodomy going on and it sparked the murder of Terre’Blanche,” he said. But after a remand hearing in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, he mentioned only the alleged labour dispute and hinted that Mahlangu would rely on a self-defence plea. He told reporters that non-sexual assault had played a role, because Terre’Blanche had a history of trying to throttle his client.
Moroko told Beeld on Tuesday that a condom allegedly found at the murder scene had never been part of his strategy, and he told the Mail & Guardian that Mahlangu had mentioned sodomy during their first short consultation, but that he had since discarded the claim. “I was not satisfied with it,” he said.
The police and the Hawks have denied that a condom was found.
But rumours of Terre’Blanche’s pederastic tastes were rife this week. The spoke to a former AWB member who recalled that Terre’Blanche was caught with a teenage boy in his sleeping bag at an AWB camp near Heidelberg in the 1980s. “He said he was cold and most people chose to believe him.”
The source said that Terre’Blanche had throughout his life, had a favourite male “jongetjie” whom he mentored. Many were poor white boys from broken homes, he said.