Rehane Potgieter and her husband Hendry.
- A man who’s fiancé’s mother, Rehane Potgieter, was killed at his Bethal house has been arrested after the police raided the property on Tuesday.
- Potgieter was visiting her daughter Rehanie and her fiancé, Okkert de Meillon, last month when she died after being shot in the back.
- The police say De Meillon, who was convicted of murder in 1994, was not arrested in connection with Potgieter’s death.
In an unexpected twist in the investigation into a 55-year-old Mpumalanga woman’s murder, her daughter’s fiancé has been arrested on an unrelated charge and released on bail.
Rehane Potgieter was shot in the back while visiting her daughter, Rehanie, in Bethal last month.
The police said she was walking in the garden with her husband, Henry, at the time.
Rehanie and Okkert de Meillon, 47, who she is engaged to, were said to be in the house at the time of the incident.
Rehane died shortly after arriving at hospital. She had around 21 small wounds on her back.
Medical staff removed several small bullet fragments, similar to that used in a shotgun, from her back.
Fragments
These fragments were sent for forensic analysis.
In a surprise turn of events, De Meillon was arrested on Tuesday after the police raided the house where the shooting occurred.
He is facing several charges in connection with the possession of explosive components, illegal firearms and ammunition. He appeared in court on Friday and was granted bail of R10 000.
During the murder investigation, information uncovered led the police to securing a warrant to raid the house, where they found, among others, explosive detonators, a rifle barrel and 300 rifle bullets.
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Constable Thomas Mogadime, the spokesman for the Bethal police, said De Meillon was not arrested in connection with the murder, but only for the alleged contravention of the explosive and ammunition acts.
When De Meillon appeared in court on Wednesday following his arrest this week, he confirmed he had previously served a sentence of 15 years for murder and robbery.
Guilty
In 1994, De Meillon – then aged 26 and a member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) as well as leader of the Boere Weerstandsbeweging (BWB) in Secunda – was found guilty of murder.
On the night of 23 April 1994, he shot and killed Sergeant Steven Terblanche who was on guard at the Devon Radar complex, an air force base near Secunda.
He and two others then stole the policeman’s weapon.
During the incident, De Meillon was wounded.
After the murder of the policeman, he sought medical treatment and was arrested at a hospital.
In 1999, he unsuccessfully applied for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
