Two days after Meghan Cremer disappeared in Philippi, her bank card was used at an ATM in nearby Lotus River.
The man photographed by the ATM's camera is so feared in the Egoli informal settlement, which neighbours Cremer's home in the Philippi farmlands, that residents there are afraid to even say his name.
The man vanished from Cape Town after Cremer's body was found on August 8 among sand dunes in Philippi. This was a day after Egoli settlement residents Jeremy Sias and Charles Daniels, and Shiraaz Jaftha from Lotus River, were arrested in her car. She had disappeared on August 3.
On Friday, sources told the Sunday Times the man had returned to Egoli, and several sources close to the investigation confirmed they were looking for a fourth suspect.
Police refused to comment. "The murder case is still under investigation and we will not be commenting on the possibility of a fourth suspect at this stage," said spokesperson Lt Col Andrè Traut.
An Egoli resident told the Sunday Times the man ran a chop shop (where stolen vehicles are disassembled) and had political connections. "He's like a chief, very powerful. I'm very scared talking to you [about him]," said the man. "He's dangerous, he's friends with the leader of the 6 Bobs gang."
Sias was born and raised on the Vaderlandsche Rietvlei stud farm where Cremer had lived for five years. Sources in the farming community said he was an informant for the police's stock-theft unit.
He made a second magistrate's court appearance in Athlone this week, with Daniels and Jaftha. The gallery was packed with women dressed in black who wanted to ensure the men were not granted bail. Daniels and Sias abandoned their bail applications but Jaftha went ahead. The case was postponed until September.
'SHACK BARON'
According to residents in Egoli, the suspect still sought by police is a "shack baron" who rules several settlements across Philippi and imposes his own set of laws.
"He's charging people for their places [in Egoli settlement]. He victimises people if he wants to. He does whatever he wants at that place," said a property owner who ended up selling his land in the area after protracted legal battles with the suspect, which, he said, included intimidation.
Another resident and community watch member said they had their car tyres slashed and a house fire-bombed two months ago, and believed the incidents were a result of their opposition to the man's activities. "He's made a living hell for the people there. If they want electricity, they've got to pay him R1,250, and it's illegal," said a resident.
Horses galloped across a field and Cremer's dog, Bella, ran and played with other dogs while farm owners Linda Mohr and her husband Jeff oversaw a horse-riding lesson.
The lesson was being conducted by a friend of Cremer, Thomas Mbalula, on a green pasture freshly watered by a passing shower.
Mohr said: "It is peaceful. She loved it. You are surrounded by nature and your horses. You're surrounded by farm life. She's always said this is the best place she's stayed at."
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On the afternoon of Saturday August 3, the day Cremer disappeared, she and Mohr were planning a horse-riding event due to take place in Stellenbosch today.
"She was meant to go this weekend. We've made a team and we've had tops made with the team name #RideForMeghan and all of the riders are going to ride in those tops," said Mohr.
"She just got this horse in February and we were going places. She was going places."
She said Mbalula was taking Cremer's death badly. "They were best friends. Thomas knew her very well, they spent every day together. I feel sorry for him. We've looked after him through this."
Several community members said the man had arrived in the area in the 1990s and built a wooden house on land that belonged to two brothers who were living overseas.
"We've known him since the day he put that place up nearly 25 years ago. He started building a house," said one.
"The owners are two doctors who lived overseas. They didn't know about it. Then he started selling houses. Nobody dares stand up to him, that's the problem," said a resident who spoke to the Sunday Times.
In sharp contrast to conditions in Egoli, serenity reigned this week at the equestrian estate where Cremer rented a cottage.
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