‘The suspect is believed to have links with the other four suspects that have already been arrested and charged for alleged terrorist activities.’
Cape Town – A fifth National Christian Resistance Movement (NCRM) suspect – a 46-year-old man from Kuils River – has been arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, explosives and explosive devices.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday by the Hawks, Crime Intelligence and the Provincial Flash Unit at his business premises, Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Friday.
“The suspect is believed to have links with the other four suspects that have already been arrested and charged for alleged terrorist activities.”
The 46-year-old suspect is due to make his first appearance in the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court today.
A woman wanted for alleged activities linked to NCRM, also known as the “Crusaders”, was arrested last Friday night with two other alleged accomplices in Kliprivier, Johannesburg.
Various firearms and ammunition, documents and other items were confiscated.
Last Thursday, the Hawks and Crime Intelligence raided two residences belonging toHarry Johannes Knoesen, the alleged leader of the right-wing Christian organisation, who was alleged to be on the verge of launching a terror campaign targeting shopping malls and informal settlements, the Saturday Star reported.
Knoesen was arrested at his house in Middelburg, Mpumalanga. On the same day, the Hawks also raided Knoesen’s farm in the Eastern Cape, where they found chemicals, electronic devices, documents and an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
Hawk investigators had been investigating Knoesen for two years and received a tip-off he was about to launch an attack targeting national key points, shopping malls and informal settlements.
According to the Middelburg Observer newspaper, it emerged in court that Knoesen had called on his members on social media to gather their weapons and shoot black people.
In a Facebook post, Knoesen said that when he takes back the land, he would give all white South Africans “a free piece of land large enough to build and live on”.
Cape Times
