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The leader of a right-wing organisation called the Crusaders was found guilty of terrorism-related charges in the Middelburg Magistrates Court in Mpumalanga on Monday.
Sixty-four-year-old Harry Johannes Knoesen and his accomplices, who have already been sentenced, planned to carry out terrorist attacks on government institutions and the public on 28 November 2019.
Knoesen, who is a former pastor and SANDF soldier, was found guilty on all four charges against him including the contravention of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism and Related Matters Act (POCDATARA), incitement to carry out a terrorist attack in South Africa, recruiting people to carry out terror attacks and the unlawful possession of a firearm.
A spokesperson for the Hawks Colonel Katlego Mogale says Knoesen planned and conspired to overthrow the democratically elected Government of South Africa and replace it with a Government led by his organisation.
He says the objective was to carry out attacks on military and police installations as well as on informal settlements occupied by African persons.
Knoesen, who pleaded not guilty, will be sentenced on Friday.
His co-accused 57-year-old Donald Abrahams and 52-year-old Errol Abrahams were found guilty in 2020 and were sentenced to an effective eight years in prison.
