Doctor held after military cache found

JOHANNESBURG ­ A medical doctor from Rustenburg in the North West Province was arrested early last night after an abandoned truck full of weapons and ammunition was found near Lichtenburg on Saturday, police said.

Senior-Superintendent Martin Aylward said the doctor, whose age and name have not yet been disclosed, was arrested in Rustenburg around 6.30pm.

"Following continuous intelligence gathering and investigations we arrested the man," he said.

Aylward said he could not disclose the circumstances under which the doctor was arrested.

"All I can say is that he originally comes from Potgietersrus and that he will appear in court on possible charges relating to the truck and ammunition." Aylward said it was not yet sure when the doctor would appear in court.

The eight-ton truckload of quasi-military arms and equipment was found abandoned near Lichtenburg over the weekend.

The abandoned lorry was reported to crime intelligence as one of a convoy travelling from Nelspruit to Thabazimbi.

There was no immediate explanation of why the lorry was abandoned at an Engen filling station in Lichtenburg's industrial area.

The police's crime intelligence unit found one AK-47 assault rifle and a number of other firearms in the truck, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition of various calibres.

Aylward said most of the ammunition was packaged in the original brown plastic used by the military or police, but not commercially available. A quantity of home-made petrol bombs were also found in the truck as well as other items of a quasi-military nature.

Meanwhile, the office of Western Cape premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk has confirmed that a written threat against him by rightwing militants has been referred to the police.

His spokesman Riaan Aucamp said yesterday the threat was contained in documents received by the premier's office in mid-week.

Weekend newspapers linked the documents to the recent indictment of ten right-wingers on charges of high treason, and the seizure of the arms and equipment found abandoned in Lichtenburg.

"I can confirm such a written threat was received against Mr Van Schalkwyk," Aucamp said.

"It seems that part of the motivation was the co-operation agreement between the New National Party and the African National Congress," he said.

Van Schalkwyk, who is also leader of the NNP, took his party into a pact with the ANC at the end of last year, and they govern the Western Cape together.

Aucamp said some of the documents were signed by the "interim president" of the "South African Boer Republic", Theuns Kruger.

He declined to say whether van Schalkwyk's security had been stepped up since he received the threats.

"We never comment on the security around the premier," he said. "All threats are seen in a very serious light and are taken up very seriously."

A weekend newspaper reported that among the documents sent to the premier were "proclamations" issued in July this year by the "war cabinet" of the "interim government of the South African Boer Republic".

It said they stated that the ANC government was a "murderous terrorist movement" that was destroying the Boer nation through, among other things, ethnic cleansing.-- Sapa