Police arrested the bewildered pilot, who said he made an emergency landing after being blown off course during a pleasure flight from Signal Hill on Thursday.
Within hours, Slegter was standing in court, nervously wringing his cap, facing charges related to entering a restricted area under the Fifa World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act.
His wife, Erika, said she was horrified to discover that he had narrowly escaped being shot down by the authorities.
The mechanic from Hout Bay said he had not been aware that he had broken any law. Slegter was paragliding with friends when, he said, wind pushed him towards the soccer stadium. In order to avoid a golf course where people were playing, he said, he landed in a nearby parking lot.
"I landed, folded up my paraglider and they arrested me as I was walking out of the gates," he said.
Access to the Cape Town Stadium and its immediate surroundings is restricted during the World Cup.
Police confiscated the paragliding gear. "They said it would be evidence in court," said a fuming Slegter, shortly after he was released on R500 bail.
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