A combination of private detective work, help from community members and swift action by the police’s cold case unit this week culminated in three blows struck against gender-based violence.
The murder two years ago of KwaZulu-Natal pastor Liezel de Jager — whose husband Werner is said to have never asked about the progress of the investigation — finally saw him arrested, while the random killing of Johannesburg teacher Kirsten Klutys, as she took part in a fun run in George Lea Park, is also believed to have been solved.
Meanwhile, the police’s persistent questioning about the disappearance of Fikelephi Dlomo, who was reported missing in 2020, paid off with her husband, Khethayiphi Ntombela, 38, handing himself over. He confessed that her remains were buried in a shallow grave next to the outside pit toilet at his house in Qabavu.
These breakthroughs came as the country observes 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, an international campaign that kicked off on November 25 and runs until December 10.
The 45-year-old De Jager’s arrest was made just two weeks after the police’s cold case unit started investigating his wife’s murder at the couple’s home in Amanzimtoti on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast on October 13 2021. Her body was found outside the house. The much-loved NG Kerk Suidkhus pastor was apparently killed just after returning home from her morning jog.
At the time it was reported that their private security company had received a panic signal at 6.07am, after which the security company called Werner’s phone four times without receiving an answer, and then called Liezel’s phone at 06.08am, also with no answer. Werner then called back at 6.09am, saying the panic button had been pressed accidentally.
Then he pressed the same panic button at 7.01am and this time told the security company that his wife had been attacked. Her body was found with cuts and strangulation marks.
Little progress was made with the murder investigation and two years later it was handed over to the cold case unit, under the command of Brig Bafana Gininda, responsible for investigating unresolved cases. That was on November 6 2023 and within two weeks the unit managed to trace and link the suspect to the crime.
“The members worked tirelessly analysing and following up on information, and in the early hours of November 24 2023, the team made an arrest in Bloemfontein,” said national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe.
Werner, 45, appeared briefly in the Amanzimtoti magistrate’s court on Monday and the matter was adjourned to December 7, with the state looking to oppose his bail application.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Action Society’s Ian Cameron said if it weren’t for the cold case unit, the family’s hope for justice would have been unanswered.
“It’s a victory for the family. I was speaking to them, and they told me now they could finally and properly mourn. It’s a huge relief to understand that the past 775 days have been very hard on everyone, especially [Liezel’s] father and the two daughters. Her father was a police officer, and it was frustrating for him to see how badly the process was run,” said Cameron.
According to Cameron, Werner was a “person of interest” in Liezel’s murder from the beginning, but the investigative team in Amanzimtoti failed to follow up on some of the most elementary elements in the case.
Action Society and her father made close to 200 inquiries to get feedback from the police about the investigation. This, according to Cameron, included a letter of demand sent about a month ago saying that the organisation was going to file a court application to force the police to appoint a competent investigation team.
The police did not respond but he did get a call from the cold case unit two weeks later, alerting them that they would take over the matter, Cameron said.
In another KwaZulu-Natal murder that is now three years old, the police’s determination not to give up on the investigation finally paid off last week.
“After realising that the net was closing in on him, Khethayiphi Ntombela handed himself over to the police,” said provincial police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda.
He admitted to assaulting and killing his 31-year-old wife, who went missing in 2020, and burying her in his yard.
“Investigations so far indicate that the suspect allegedly assaulted the woman with a blunt object, probably a stick, on her head before she was buried. The woman’s husband was arrested, and a case of murder was registered. Further DNA tests will be conducted to ascertain the identity of the recovered body remains,” Netshiunda said.
Ntombela is in custody and has abandoned his bail application.
Also in court this week was a 21-year-old student from Varsity College in Sandton, for allegedly killing Kluyts, 34, the popular Delta Park High School teacher in Johannesburg. Her body was found on one of the paths near a Sandton sports club when she failed to finish her walk at a MyRun event.
Private security company 24/7 spokesperson Antoinette Nothling said the firm worked with private investigators and the police.
“We set up a forum so that everyone involved could share information because otherwise people work in isolation and the investigation goes nowhere.
“Security company 24/7 Security launched an investigation with the [police’s] serious and violent crimes unit, Sandton detectives, Visible Policing [Vispol], the Parkmore Community Association, and private investigators Riaan Botha and Klaas Molebaloa.”
The student was arrested at the Varsity College student residence in Benmore on November 26 after video footage was obtained from the closed-circuit television cameras around Parkmore.
His matter was postponed to December 5.
