A 34-year-old South African arrested on charges of conspiring to kill prominent South African politicians, including former president Jacob Zuma, has been found guilty of lesser charges.
Elvis Ramosebudi was convicted in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Tuesday on two counts of attempting to incite to commit conspiracy to commit murder.
This was after he conspired to attack politicians in their homes and making their assassinations look like botched house robberies. The targeted victims were thought to have benefitted from state capture, the court heard.
The convict was found guilty of sending letters to tycoon Nicky Oppenheimer, former chairman of the Anglo American mining giant, asking for funding to stage a coup.
He also wrote to businessman Ajay Gupta, one of the Indian brothers suspected to be the leading practitioners of state capture.
The letter to Oppenheimer‚ dated 25 October 2016‚ detailed Ramosebudi’s assassination plans‚ the targets of which were Zuma‚ his son Duduzane and 17 other high-ranking politicians and prominent South Africans.
Under the heading, “Let’s Help Save South Africa”‚ the letter read: “It is now in our hands as the Anti-State Capture Death Squad Alliance to request financial assistance and support for the amount of R60-million in order to finance our undercover coup plot mission to assassinate Jacob Zuma and his entire state capture regime.”
The letter provided a Standard Bank account number and also a list of the targets. It was signed by the suspect.
NM/jn/APA