Port Elizabeth - A memorial service is to be held on Friday for Mark Minnie, the former Port Elizabeth policeman and co-author of a controversial book alleging apartheid-era ministers were part of a paedophile ring.
The service will be held at the Dutch Reformed Port Elizabeth West church hall, on the corner of 5th Avenue and Pickering Street in Newton Park.
Earlier this month, Minnie, who co-authored "The Lost Boys of Bird Island", was found dead on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth in what appeared to be an apparent suicide.
Minnie’s body was discovered at a friend’s smallholding in Theescombe and police said that an inquest docket had been opened.
At the time, police said Minnie had sustained a gunshot wound to his head and a pistol was discovered lying next to his body.
A suicide note was also discovered at the property.
The book, which is about high-ranking former National Party officials and cabinet ministers allegedly being part of a paedophile ring in the late 1980s, is a collaboration between Chris Steyn and Minnie.
The publishers of “The Lost Boys of Bird Island” have since released a portion of the suicide note.
Tafelberg Publishers released the following excerpt - addressed to Minnie's co-author.
“The pitiful cries of the lost boys of Bird Island have haunted me for the past 31 years. At last their story is out. Chrissy [Chris Steyn], don’t give up now. You are almost home. No government officials preventing you from investigating this time round.”
According to Steyn, the extract from what Minnie called his "last writing" was addressed specifically to her. The rest of the letter was addressed to his family.
Family and friends have since expressed doubts that his death was a suicide.