Murderer of former South African first lady granted parole

Murderer of former South African first lady granted parole

Marike was the wife of former president FW de Klerk and was brutally killed in 2001.
Marike de Klerk was the wife of former president FW de Klerk  (pictured). Photo \ Reuters / Photo: AFP

A man convicted over the killing of former South Africa's First Lady Marike de Klerk has been granted parole and will be released from prison.

Marike was the wife of FW de Klerk, the former apartheid-era president who was the last white person to lead South Africa.

Luyanda Mboniswa was sentenced to life imprisonment over her death in 2001 at her Cape Town home in what is believed to have been a botched robbery.

He spent at least 20 year in prison and will be freed at the end of August, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said.

Parole conditions

The decision to grant parole was approved by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in compliance with the law after the convict served the minimum required time, the department added.

The parole conditions include not having contact with the family of the victim and he will not change his residential address without informing officials, the department's spokesperson said.

"Mboniswa will be admitted into the system of community corrections, whereby he is expected to comply with a specific set of parole conditions for the rest of his natural life. He will be assigned a monitoring official to render supervision duties," Singabakho Nxumalo said.

Mboniswa, a former security guard, was arrested two days after the former first lady was was found stabbed and strangled in the bathroom of her house.

TRT Afrika