Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.

Date: 20 Sep 2002
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.

Two members of the extreme right-wing group, Boeremag, Dirk Hanekom and Henk Van Zyl, were apprehended on a farm in Memel district, Free State. They were taken into custody a month after a warrant of arrest was issued against them. Only Hanekom was charged with treason and brought to trial with 21 other alleged members of the right-wing Boeremag at the Pretoria High Court on 19 May 2003. The Boeremag allegedly sought to stage a coup and replace the government with a Boer republic. Ten other men, including three former South African Defense Force (SADF) members, had already been arrested in connection with the alleged coup plot. A search for other members of this movement continued. The 20 accused were later convicted of treason.

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01SAPA (2012), ' Boeremag trial postponed from News 24 ', (13 August 2012) [online] Available at: www.news24.com [Accessed on 10 September 2013]
02SABC (2012), 'Sentencing hearing starts in Boeremag trial ', [online], Available at: www.sabc.co.za [Accessed on 10 September 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, August 23). Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091381

South African History Online (2012) 'Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.', South African History Online, 23 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091381 (Accessed: 25 September 2026).

South African History Online, Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091381, (accessed 25 September 2026).

"Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.." South African History Online, 23 Aug. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091381. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Boeremag members Dirk Hanekom and Henk van Zyl are arrested in Memel. Only Hanekom is charged.." South African History Online. August 23, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0091381.