A need for justice

Denise Goldin reckons she’s lucky, that she’s been blessed. It’s difficult to understand why someone in her position would say that: in the past half dozen years, she’s lost a sister, a mother, a husband – and her beloved son, Brett, who was callously murdered in Cape Town five years ago.

“He is gone – but he is also still here,” she says, surrounded by mementoes of Brett’s brief but stellar career on stage and in film. “And, he is making things happen,” she adds.

Those things are the mounting anger about the proposal to grant parole to the men who hijacked and kidnapped him and his friend, Richard Bloom. There is a groundswell of opposition to the proposal which goes way beyond the merits of the case itself, Denise believes.

“Thousands of people have signed petitions – and what they are saying is, ‘We ordinary South Africans want justice!’ “

The support for the anti-parole petition is a statement about all the shortcomings of the South African criminal justice system – from poor policing, sub-standard detective work and shoddy forensic tests to corruption.

In this, is it ordinary South Africans – those who have “lost a brother, sister, father or mother, or a friend” – who are “ignored” by the system, she believes.

“In our case, we were blessed that we had a determined team of detectives who rescued the case after evidence – like clothes and Brett’s stolen cellphone – went missing shortly after the accused were arrested.

“There was also a committed prosecution team who worked tirelessly to see that justice was done. That is how things can – and how they should – be done in the justice system,” she says.

Denise is determined that this case be used to ensure that, in future, the victims of crime are told and consulted when parole is considered for the criminals who victimised them.

“All I, and my daughter Samantha are saying, is that we think these people who were responsible for the hijacking and the kidnapping should continue to be rehabilitated for longer. We are not saying that they have not been rehabilitated. But we say that they should serve their full sentences.”

She is also concerned that the incidence of parolees committing further crimes is shockingly high.

She would like to see a system where prisoners are rehabilitated through training and education and equipped with skills which will benefit the community.

And they should be put to work in service of the community.

“I am not saying bring back the chain gang – but when I look at all the projects around us, like repairing roads, building schools, I believe prisoners could be employed in a way which will allow them to give something back to society.”

Even as she talks, the Blackberry on the couch next to her keeps beeping as messages of support and electronic petitions stream in.

More than 3 000 electronic petitions have already been signed and 3 000 people have signed a similar petition on the Facebook page.

She has hundreds of printed-out e-mails. “It keeps pouring in,” she says.

Among those who have added their weight to the outcry are thespians Anthony Sher and Janet Suzman.

“We want to keep this going because it is about more than Brett and Richard. It is about everyone who fails to get justice. We are saying to people that they should not give up, that they should make their voices heard. Write to the media, contact your MP, sign petitions. Do anything, but don’t stay silent!”

That’s part of the reason that, despite the pain – and it has multiplied exponentially over the parole issue – Denise believes she is blessed.

“You have to believe that the deaths of Brett and Richard were part of some greater plan.

“They didn’t die for nothing, because people will realise that they can voice their concerns and they can say: we have a right to a safer life.”

All over the house, there are pictures of Brett in his heyday – in the film Crazy Monkey (which has a cult following worldwide… fans still correspond with Denise) and on stage in comedy and in serious Shakespeare. Yet, these are not images from a cold shrine or mausoleum. They are fragments of a life well lived and, in a strange way, it feels as though Brett could bounce down the hallway any minute.

Denise has accepted that is never going to happen, but it’s been a tough journey. Along the way, she says, she’s had incredible support – from people like Sharon Matthews, mother of the murdered Leigh and others who have lost loved ones – and she herself now tries to help with grief counselling.

“When I first see these people, I see myself as I was. They are devastated. They can’t even look at you. There are so many people suffering.”

Denise is in the process of setting up a website called The Worst Club in the World, which will be for those who have suffered the loss of someone close to them.

“Sharing with someone who has been through it does help – it doesn’t take the pain away, but it does help.”

That’s part of what Brett left behind. And it’s going to keep on doing things – little things, maybe, but things which will help people.

Another part of his legacy is the memorial bursary set up in his name, which annually provides for two aspiring actors to travel to Stratford-upon-Avon in England to experience the Royal Shakespeare Company for a month.

“He’s changed the lives of so many people,” says Denise, blinking back tears. But she speaks in the present tense.

l See www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/saynotoparole or www.facebook.com/pages/SAY-NO-to-parole-for-Brett-GoldinRichard-Bloom-convicts/229974163732231 - Saturday Star