Four years after South Africa's former cricket captain Hansie Cronje [Images] died in a plane crash, an official inquiry will be launched in the Cape High Court on Monday.

The inquest will also deal with the deaths of pilot Willie Meyer and co-pilot Ian Noakes, The Mercury reported on Friday.

Legal procedure in the country demands that an inquest must be held into any death following an aircraft accident.

Cronje died on June 1, 2002 when the Hawker Siddeley 748, which was bound for George from Bloemfontein, crashed in rough weather in the mountains near George. He was 32.

The inquest was originally scheduled to be held in the magistrate's court in George, but it was moved "due to the technical nature of the evidence to be heard" after a request to the minister of justice.

 It is expected that representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority and the plane's owner, AirQuarius Aviation, will attend Monday's court proceedings.

A celebrated captain, Cronje fell from grace after being embroiled in a match-fixing controversy. Cronje had admitted to accepting bribes from bookies in exchange for under-performing and giving out match-related information.

He was banned for life by the United Cricket Board of South Africa in October 2000.