SOUTH AFRICAN authorities are investigating whether the murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre’Blanche, allegedly by two of his farm workers, was motivated by a sex crime, a police spokesman has confirmed.
The revelation was made after a South African newspaper reported over the weekend that Chris Mahlangu (28) is going to claim during his trial that Mr Terre’Blanche was involved in sodomy before the murder took place.
The Sunday Timesquoted Mr Mahlangu's lawyer, Puna Moroko, as saying: "My instructions from my client are that there was some sodomy going on and it sparked the murder of Mr Terre'Blanche. This is going to form part of our defence during trial."
Police spokesman Musa Zondi said on Sunday that the allegation was not the only possibility the directorate for priority crime investigations was investigating in relation to uncovering the motive behind the killing.
Reports that a used condom had been found near the body of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader have been called “a false allegation” by police.
Meanwhile, South African president Jacob Zuma has heavily criticised the leader of the African National Congress Youth League, Julius Malema, for his recent conduct, saying his actions and comments were totally alien to the ruling party.
AWB members and white interest groups have linked the murder of Mr Terre’Blanche to Mr Malema’s repeated singing of an inflammatory liberation song that called for white farmers to be shot, believing the lyrics incited racial hatred and violence.
Despite the South African courts banning Mr Malema from singing the song, he only stopped after being reined in by the ANC.
The controversial youth league leader has also undermined Mr Zuma’s efforts to mediate between Zimbabwe’s transitional government partners recently.
Mr Malema said that President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party was the only true political party there and dismissed the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In addition Mr Malema expelled a BBC journalist last week from a press conference and called him a “bastard” for daring to question the manner in which he criticised the MDC.
Following widespread condemnation of Mr Malema, Mr Zuma told a press conference: “We reiterate that leaders should think before they speak, as their utterances have wider implications for the country.”
He added: “The relevant structure in the ANC will look at what has happened to see if the line has been crossed. If the line has been crossed, there will be consequences.”