Shock Marike trial claim

Herald Correspondents & Sapa

Cape Town – THE Port Elizabeth man accused of murdering Marike de Klerk made bizarre claims yesterday about his alleged accomplice.

Luyanda Mboniswa, 21, originally from Motherwell, named Mrs De Klerk’s dance instructor and “boyfriend” John Thebus as the mastermind of the murder and robbery which shocked South Africa.

But police told Mr Mboniswa’s bail hearing yesterday that they had tested his story and found it to be fabrication.

Mr Thebus had volunteered his fingerprints and DNA testing, had allowed police to search his house and car, and had even been subjected to a lie detector test, which indicated he was not involved in the murder, top detective Superintendent Mike Barkhuizen said.

And 53-year-old Mr Thebus himself says he is stunned by the allegations. Speaking for the first time since his name surfaced in court, Mr Thebus said last night: “I’m innocent and I had nothing to do with the murder. I’m shocked.”

He said he met Mrs De Klerk two years ago and they became “very good friends”.

Mr Thebus said on SATV news that Mrs De Klerk had two dancing instructors and he enjoyed spending time with her.

He said he accompanied Mrs De Klerk to several social functions and found it laughable that Mr Mboniswa had described him as Mrs De Klerk’s boyfriend.

Mr Thebus believes he was one of the most frequent visitors to Mrs De Klerk’s luxury flat and that Mr Mboniswa could have taken his details from the security register at the complex. Mr Thebus says he has never seen the former security guard, or spoken to him.

Mr Mboniswa, 21, claimed during the bail hearing that he had been approached by Mr Thebus to assist in a late-night burglary at Mrs De Klerk’s home on December 2 last year.

Mrs De Klerk, 64, was found in her pyjamas in a passageway of her luxurious Table View flat in Cape Town on December 4. She had been strangled and stabbed in her back.

Mr Mboniswa said he and Mr Thebus had met at a public toilet in Blaauwberg and had then gone together to the De Klerk flat where Mr Mboniswa had helped Mr Thebus gain access through a balcony door.

He said Mr Thebus put on plastic yellow gloves and stabbed Mrs De Klerk, then strangled her after she woke and came into the darkened living room from her bedroom.

Mr Mboniswa said he had not expected Mrs De Klerk to be home and felt sorry for agreeing to help when Mr Thebus strangled her. “I was not expecting it (the killing), I knew I was going to get into trouble.”

Mr Mboniswa said he held Mrs De Klerk’s legs while Mr Thebus sat on her chest and strangled her after stabbing her.

“After a long time while (he) held her, I noticed Mrs De Klerk’s legs became lame. She was still gasping and the blood spattered on my shirt. It was coming from her mouth.”

After the killing Mr Thebus’s cream trousers were soaked in Mrs De Klerk’s blood, Mr Mboniswa claimed.

He said part of the plan had been to steal the Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to Mr F W de Klerk and Nelson Mandela in 1993.

Mr Mboniswa said he had been promised R20 000 and a car, but in the event he left with R400 and Mrs De Klerk’s cellphone.

Asked whether he had mentioned Mr Thebus in his original statement to a magistrate and to police, Mr Mboniswa said he had, “several times”.

But Supt Barkhuizen, head of the serious and violent crimes unit in the Western Cape, told the court he was satisfied that Mr Thebus had been at home at the time Mrs De Klerk was killed and had nothing to do with the case.

The superintendent said that phone records showed Mr Thebus was on the phone at 11.55pm on December 2, while the State was also in possession of evidence that a call was made from Mrs De Klerk’s flat at 11.55pm to the reception area at the Dolphin Beach complex.

The receptionist on duty gave police a sworn affidavit that he had received a phone call from Mr Mboniswa at that exact time.

However, defence attorney Mpumelela Nyoka, who travelled from Port Elizabeth for the hearing, contended that Mr Thebus could have arranged for the call to be made to his home at that time and said the State had no concrete evidence, other than the affidavit, to prove that Mr Thebus was at home.

Supt Barkhuizen said he had no reason to believe Mr Thebus had arranged the call, but agreed the State did not have forensic evidence to link either Mr Mboniswa or Mr Thebus to the crime scene.

But police had found Mrs De Klerk’s cellphone, wristwatch and two flashlights in Mr Mboniswa’s girlfriend’s possession.

A day after the murder, Mr Mboniswa allegedly used Mrs De Klerk’s cellphone to call his work and book off sick.

Mr Nyoka said he would write to the Director of Public Prosecutions to ask that Mr Thebus be charged together with Mr Mboniswa.

The bail application continues today.

Meanwhile, Mrs De Klerk’s other dance instructor, Jacques Carstens, said Mrs De Klerk and Mr Thebus had “burnt up the dance floor”.

“He was her dancing partner, I never got the idea they were involved. I would say they were friends,” Mr Carstens said.

“Dancing made her (Mrs De Klerk) happy.

“I thought to myself she was in a good mood and things were going well for her,” he said of their last meeting, two days before her murder.