Okkert de Meillon gets bail
According to Const Mogadime pellets similar to that of a shotgun's bullet fragments were retrieved from Ms Potgieter's body. Although there were more than 20 small holes in her shoulder, the doctor on call only found one pellet and the coroner found another during the post mortem.
BETHAL – He is the best thing that ever happened to her.
This is what Ms Rehanie Nienaber (also known as Potgieter) testified at the bail hearing of her fiancé, Mr Okkert de Meillon, on Friday, 24 July.
Ms Nienaber described him as a good and trustworthy man and provider for his family. She does not fear him.
Mr De Meillon (47) was arrested on Tuesday, 21 July in connection with the possession of explosive components, illegal firearms and ammunition.
He was granted bail of R10 000 on condition that he hands in his passport and reports to the nearest police station once a week. The case was postponed to 3 September.
Among the load of things the police confiscated at Mr De Meillon’s home in Louis Trichardt Street, are more than 300 bullets of various calibres, 76 detonators, copper and silver pipes of different sizes, nail gun blanks and a variety of chemicals which are typically used in manufacturing explosives.
Members of MavCorp and Roman Alarms Tactical assisted the police on the scene. The police have sent several items for forensic testing.
The confiscated chemicals included mercury, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide and aluminium powder.
Mr De Meillon denied knowing what chemicals are needed to make home-made explosives. He explained that the chemicals were in fact mere cleaning solvents.
In court, he described himself as “a bit of a hoarder” who does not like to throw things away.
Also read: Woman shot dead in Bethal
This, according to him, is the reason why he kept the containers of mercury which had actually belonged to his mother.
This, he said, is also why the police found detonators and ammunition.
“I cannot remember who gave me the bullets, but I had them for more than 10 years. I am not sure if they are even usable anymore.”
“I do not recall where the aluminium powder came from and I don’t know what it is.”
Mr De Meillon explained that he found most of the detonators at a mine near Newcastle a few years ago.
He is a miner and does blasting work, and is also a qualified welder.
“I found them in a silver packet in the mine one day. We were preparing to blast, so I placed them in my bag in order to hand them in to the mine captain when I returned to the surface, but I forgot about them and only noticed the detonators when I got home.”
He apparently then completely forgot about these detonators and never returned them to the mine.
The remaining detonators ended up in his pockets over a period of time, because he would always keep a few on hand when they had to blast at the mine.
“These came out only when we were doing the washing,” he said.
“I have pipes, but I am not in possession of a barrel that can be used as some kind of firearm,” he said further.
Mr De Meillon also testified that he was once a corporal in the air force during the years that military service was mandatory. During this time he was a weapons trainer.
Const Thomas Mogadime, spokesman for the Bethal Police, previously confirmed that the mysterious circumstances around the death of Ms Nienaber’s mother, Ms Rehane Potgieter (55) from Piet Retief prompted the police to obtain a warrant to search Mr De Meillon’s premises.
Ms Potgieter and her husband, Hendry, were visiting their daughter when she died on 27 June.
According to the police report at the time, Ms Potgieter was in the garden when she sustained some sort of gunshot wound to the back of her left shoulder. Mr Potgieter and Mr De Meillon took Ms Potgieter (snr) to the Bethal Hospital where she died.
According to Const Mogadime pellets similar to that of a shotgun’s bullet fragments were retrieved from Ms Potgieter’s body. Although there were more than 20 small holes in her shoulder, the doctor on call only found one pellet and the coroner found another during the post mortem.
Police investigations into her murder continues. No arrests have yet been made.
The police have also not yet found the weapon with which she had been shot.
Ms Marlene de Villiers presided over proceedings in court.
De Meillon indicated that he had once been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for murder and robbery he committed in 1994. The sentence was imposed by the Springs High Court.
Mr De Meillon spent 10 years and three months behind bars and was released in 2008.
Also read: Woman shot dead in Bethal
