Family gather ahead of memorial service for Mark Minnie
A memorial service for former Port Elizabeth policeman Mark Minnie‚ co-author of the explosive book, The Lost Boys of Bird Island‚ will be held in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
A private cremation will take place on Thursday.
According to a notice printed in The Herald on Wednesday‚ the memorial service will be held at midday on Friday at the Dutch Reformed PE West church hall‚ on the corner of 5th Avenue and Pickering Street in Newton Park.
Minnie‚ 58‚ who wrote the book – which exposed an alleged paedophile ring involving top-ranking apartheid-era cabinet members – with investigative journalist Chris Steyn‚ was found dead on Monday night last week at a friend’s farm in Theescombe with a gunshot wound to his head and a firearm lying next to his body.
Family and friends have since expressed doubts that his death was a suicide.
One of Minnie’s maternal cousins‚ Tersia Dodo‚ said several relatives would travel to the city for the cremation and memorial service.
Due to medical reasons‚ Minnie’s mother and one of his sisters would not be travelling from America.