Mozambican troops patrol the streets of Mocimboa da Praia in Mozambique's north, a marginalised region where radical Al-Shabaab-style ideology has found a receptive audience. (AFP Photo/Adrien Barbier)
Andre Mayer Hanekom’s wife, Francis, has opened up about her husband’s arrest in Mozambique after he was accused of being involved with a jihadist group.
In court documents made available to the media on Monday, Mozambican prosecutors said Hanekom, together with two Tanzanians – Chafim Mussa and Adamu Nhaungwa Yangue – faced charges of murder, crimes against the state and inciting civil disobedience, among others.
Its militants are reportedly seeking to impose Sharia law in the Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province.
Hanekom, 60, was formally arrested in August in a hospital after being seized by the military from a restaurant in the gas industry hub town of Palma after he had tried to resist, was shot in the shoulder and ended up in hospital, according to local police reports.
Affectionately referred to as Baba mzungo, which translates to “white father”, Hanekom was allegedly responsible for the group’s logistics, including payment of monthly salaries equivalent to $160 (about R2 290), and the provision of medicines.
Machetes, arrows and gunpowder were found at the home of Hanekom, who has been operating a maritime business in Palma.
But Hanekom’s wife said all the things police confiscated from her house were “normal stuff”.
“Did they take pangas? Every home in Mozambique has a panga or two, as it is used for various tasks in and around the home. How to open a coconut? Use your panga. How to slash shrubs and bush on the property? Use pangas.
“Did he supply medical assistance? Three syringes, for the purpose of inoculating our goats, two bottles of expired vitamin tablets and my saline for the asthma nebulizer, is proof of supporting terrorism?
“The salary they mentioned is the amount which our one worker received. It turned out that he was an inside informant to disclose the position of Andre the day he was shot. I have proof of this, and the worker got dismissed.
“Did they find arrows? I advise all not to buy local art for your home from vendors in the street. Four years ago I made the unfortunate “mistake” of buying two bows with arrows from Mozambicans in an impoverished town. They are selling it as a means of income. The one bow broke when we were trying to use it at home to test it for fun, using a box marked with an x, as a target. Not even good to use if you really need to hunt with it. I hung the rest on the Lapa wall as decoration.
“The ‘gunpowder’ found, was most probably them breaking my distress flares of my boats to obtain the ‘explosives’ they are talking about. Yes, they confiscated my distress flares with the first aid kits and gill knives from my boats, to implicate Andre. So, boat people, you are in danger to be marked as a terrorist, due to the fact of having obligatory distress flares on your vessels,” she said.
Also read: Jihadist activities unacceptable, rather spread love and peace – Lindiwe Sisulu
Francis said the first search at her house was done three months after her husband was shot, implying it was bizarre for police to wait that long to search the home of a suspected terrorist.
She criticised the whole process that led to her husband’s arrest, questioning how the information got out when the prosecutor was not legally allowed to disclose any information regarding her husband’s case. Francis further accused “influential people” of doing everything to get her husband’s property on the beach.
“This is a sure sign that desperate attempts are used to gain public sympathy for the corrupt cops. All this is happening because influential people desire Andre’s property on the beach. Lies will catch up, and those who laugh last, have the best laugh, after all,” she said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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