Convicted killer Najwa Petersen’s parole has been suspended.
Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald announced on Friday that that the decision of the Pollsmoor Correctional Supervision and Parole Board to place Petersen on parole, has been directed to the Parole Review Board.
Petersen, 63, is in prison for the murder of her husband musician Taliep Petersen, who was killed in their Cape Town home in 2006.
Taliep was killed with a single shot to the head after being tied up with cable ties in his Athlone home on the night of December 16, 2006.
Three years later, on February 11, 2009, Petersen was sentenced to an effective 28 years behind bars.
Petersen appeared before the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board September 11, 2024, where she was granted a parole placement date of November 27, 2024.
Earlier this month the Department said that the victims were involved in the parole-hearing process.
They also said that Petersen had participated in various rehabilitation programmes and would be enrolled in pre-release programmes to prepare her for reintegration into society.
On Friday, the Minister said that the Parole Review Board is now tasked with reviewing the original decision made by the Pollsmoor Correctional Supervision and Parole Board and must confirm, or replace it with its own decision.
“This referral suspends the decision to place her (Petersen) on parole, effective from the 27th of November 2024, pending the outcome of the CSPRB.”
The Minister decided to refer the matter following representations from Taliep’s family.
“The discrepancies in Marius van der Westhuizen’s case have led to a lack of public trust. As a result, I am exercising my discretion under the provisions of the Act to ensure that Parole Boards consider all reports comprehensively to prevent future occurrences of such issues,” Groenewald said.
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