Bloemfontein - The alleged rightwing Mangaung plotters were hoping to bankroll their activities with funds from the US extremist group, the Ku Klux Klan, a Free State court heard on Monday.
State witness Jaco Scherman told the Bloemfontein High Court that accused Johan Prinsloo paid R40 000 for an overseas trip for Hein Boonzaaier. His brief was to have discussions with potential funders such as the KKK.
The KKK is a far-right organisation in the United States which advocates extremist reactionary views such as white supremacy, white nationalism and anti-immigration.
Prinsloo faces charges of treason, conspiracy to take part in terrorist acts, and possession of illegal ammunition. He was arrested in December 2012 with Martin Keevy, Mark Trollip, and Boonzaaier.
Charges against Boonzaaier were dropped. Trollip pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy and was sentenced to eight years in prison last year. Keevy was declared unfit to stand trial.
Scherman testified that the group planned to acquire diamonds from Zimbabwe and sell them to fund their planned terrorist activities.
The state alleges that Keevy, Trollip, Prinsloo, and Boonzaaier were part of a group that plotted to kill African National Congress leaders at the party's national elective conference in Mangaung in December 2012.
Sapa