Decision to place Najwa Peterson on parole referred for review

Najwa Petersen, convicted of her husband Taliep Petersen’s murder, may face the same fate as that of child-murderer, Marius van Der Westhuizen.

This after the decision to place her on parole by the Pollsmoor Parole Board will come under scrutiny by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board.

Petersen was granted parole in August after her incarceration for the murder of her husband, the theatre legend Taliep Petersen in 2006.

Petersen has served 15 of a 28 year sentence for the murder of Taliep Petersen, a renowned theatre legend, writer, composer and artist.
Najwa Peterson was due to have served the rest of her sentence outside the correctional facility as from the end of November.
But this could change after the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald referred the decision for review.

“I directed the decision of the Pollsmoor Parole Board to place Ms Petersen on parole be referred to the correctional supervision and Parole Review Board in terms of 75(8) of the Correctional Services Act. I decided to refer the matter following representations from the family of the victim, Mr Taliep Petersen.”

Taliep Petersen along with his creative partner, David Kramer, enjoyed world-wide success with hit musicals including Kat and the Kings and District Six. The esteemed singer, songwriter, composer, and director was shot and killed in his Athlone home on the 16 December 2006.

While some members of the family members are understood to have been against Najwa’s release on parole, two of Taliep Petersen’s daughters from a previous marriage spoke to the SABC before the parole decision was made last month.

A’eesha Petersen, Taliep Petersen’s daughter speaking to SABC:

In recent months, another high profile parole convicted murderer’s parole decision was referred to the review board.

Former police officer Marius van der Westhuizen was due to be paroled in July, after his conviction for killing his three children in 2006.
His then wife, was vehemently opposed to his parole. His parole was overturned by the review board.

“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,” adds the minister Groenewald.

The Parole Review Board will have to either confirm or replace the decision of parole with its own.

Petersen’s parole is suspended until then.

The parole of child murderer, Marius van der Westhuizen, has been overturned: