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August 13, 2008 At least two witnesses
called by the state to testify against
murder-accused Najwa Petersen have been
threatened with death, South African
newspapers reported last week.
The country’s leading reporters claimed that
the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) had
been roped in to carry out a security
assessment of one of the witnesses, while the
police have offered witness protection to
another.
Mymuna Bedford, a long-term friend of both
Petersen and her murdered husband, Taliep, was
called in April this year to testify against
Petersen, who is standing trial in the Cape
High Court charged with ordering the murder of
her husband in December 2006.
Bedford testified that Petersen asked her for
the telephone number of co-accused Fahiem
"Piele" Hendriks, alleged to be the man
Petersen ordered to organise the hit on her
husband.
Bedford told South African jornalists she
received death threats last week and was sent
an SMS message on Thursday this week saying:
"Your photo has been taken. You must take
care. Watch your back every day -- day and
night. We know where you live."
"I fear for my life -- I'm really scared. The
police have offered me protection, but we've
employed our own bodyguards. My family is very
scared," Bedford, a business person, said this
week.
Bedford, who describes herself as Petersen's
best friend, has known the Petersen family for
many years.
"The Dirk [Najwa Petersen's maiden name]
family is known as the diamond and dollars
people… everybody on the Cape Flats know that
there's 'klippies' [gems] wherever their
family is involved. Because there's big money
involved, people are so scared," one observer
told south African newspaper.
Petersen testified this week that she believes
her husband was killed in a botched robbery,
claiming that she was connected to accused
number two, Hendriks, because he had sold
black market diamonds for her.
Bedford refused to speculate on who had
threatened her.
A police officer who spoke on condition of
anonymity this week confirmed that the NIA had
been asked to assess the security of forensic
psychiatrist Lerissa Panieri-Peter from
Valkenburg, who carried out a psychological
assessment of Petersen.
Panieri-Peter, called to testify during one of
Petersen's two unsuccessful bail hearings,
found she is "not mentally ill", as her own
psychiatrist had determined and that she was
fit to stand trial.
Her testimony is widely seen as the main
reason Petersen was denied bail. Reports
reveals that she has also been threatened.
However, she would not confirm this, referring
the South African media to the police.
This week the M&G interviewed a former police
officer who investigated the Dirk family and
their business associates in Namibia and Cape
Town two years ago.
The Dirks and the Brenner family are said to
own half of the businesses in Osikathi,
Namibia. The Dirk family has exported fruit to
Namibia for many years while the Brenners,
headed by Faizel "Fresh" Brenner, own a
transport company.
The ex-policeman claimed that the Dirks had
imported Angolan diamonds to South Africa for
many years, concealing the gems in fruit to
move it through customs.
"They're very wealthy and own a string of
properties on the Flats and in Namibia.
They're a very tight family and run their
business like a mafia, with no outsiders," the
policeman said.
Members of the two families are known on the
Cape Flats as "Die Wolwe" and "Fresh" Brenner
is also considered their leader.
"The tabloids in Cape Town don't write about
Die Wolwe, because journalists have been
threatened," the policeman claimed to the
South African media.
One South African newspaper claims it is in
possession of documents from the Namibian
finance ministry showing that the Dirk family
is under investigation in Namibia for tax
evasion and that value-added tax credits of
Dirk Fruit, the family business, are being
withheld by the Namibian receiver of revenue.
According to other documents in possession of
the M&G, Taliep Petersen himself was under
investigation in Namibia in connection with
payments made to Dirk Fruit of N$50-million. |
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