Obituary

Mark Minnie: uncovered apartheid-era conspiracy to rape children

On trail of state-sponsored 'suicide' death squad when, police say, he shot himself

19 August 2018 - 00:00 By Chris Barron

Mark Minnie, who has died in Port Elizabeth at the age of 57, lived in fear of his life after co-authoring The Lost Boys of Bird Island, exposing a paedophile ring involving senior apartheid cabinet ministers who raped young, mainly coloured, street children.
Named in the book, which he wrote with journalist Chris Steyn, were former defence minister Magnus Malan, minister of the environment and tourism John Wiley and wealthy businessman Dave Allen. Mentioned in connection with the ring but not named was a third apartheid cabinet minister, who, unlike the others, is still alive.
According to police, Minnie shot himself in the head while staying on a friend's smallholding outside Port Elizabeth...

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