On 17 June 2001, Terre'Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a petrol station employee, John Ndzima, to such an extent as to cause permanent brain damage, and the attempted murder of a security guard and former employee, Paul Motshabi. Terre'Blanche was released in June 2004 after serving three years in Rooigrond Prison near Mafikeng. During his time in prison, he became a born-again Christian and claimed he had moderated many of his more ethno-nationalist views and preached reconciliation as 'prescribed by God'.
