Earlier today, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions' Scorpions Unit arrested notorious arms dealer, failed rally driver and recidivist mother's boy Mark Thatcher at his Cape Town home. Bulelani Ngcuka's spokersperson, Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said: "We are investigating charges of contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act. This is in relation to the possible funding and logistical assistance in relation to the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea."News24.com reports:
The arrest came as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was due to arrive in Cape Town, leading the biggest delegation ever to South Africa for two days of talks aimed at putting relations with Pretoria on a stronger footing. Thatcher, who lives with his Texan wife and two children in Cape Town, was due to appear in a Cape Town court later Wednesday, the spokesman said. He has been linked to one of the alleged masterminds of the coup plot, Simon Mann, who is on trial in Zimbabwe in connection with the attempt to topple veteran President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Malabo. more...Due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrates' Courts today, it's not clear whether Capetonians stand any chance of seeing the son of gun-running former British prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher run out of town or extradited to Malabo to join eight South Africans, six Armenians and four Equato-Guineans standing trial for the botched March coup attempt. One of Thatcher's alleged co-conspirators, Nick du Toit, has been identified as the coup mastermind and faces the death penalty if found guilty. Another 70 men are on trial in Zimbabwe for offences related to the alleged coup bid.
"Your family are always your closest friends." Margaret Thatcher
