Talks held ahead of Najwa Dirk's parole hearing

On the eve of the 19th anniversary of Cape music icon Taliep Petersen’s murder, his wife Najwa Dirk, better known as Najwa Petersen, who was convicted and sentenced to 28 years for his murder, will face a parole hearing.

An open dialogue was held in Athlone on Thursday night with the community, his family, and policing structures discussing her possible release.

According to the Community Policing Forum (CPF), the aim of the public engagement between Taliep’s family and the community, safety structures, and various neighbourhood watch teams is to formulate a report that will be handed over to the Parole Board.

It is understood that the upcoming parole hearing will take place at Pollsmoor Prison on November 26, 2025, with Taliep’s siblings stating they would once again be appealing it.

Najwa’s parole was suspended after the Correctional Services Minister Dr Pieter Groenewald referred the decision to the Parole Review Board for a comprehensive review, following representations from the victim's family.

Originally granted parole by the Pollsmoor prison parole board for a November 27, 2024 release, the parole was placed on hold pending the review's outcome. This was after Taliep's family penned a letter to the Ministry calling for a review of the parole.

Queries to Minister Groenewald's office and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) went unanswered when deadline was reached.

Najwa was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment after being convicted of being the mastermind behind her husband’s murder which took place on December 16 2006 inside their home in Grasmere Street, Athlone. Co-accused Waheed Hassen received 25 years. Hassen also met with the parole board in 2021 and was granted parole last year.

Abdoer Raasiet Emjedi, also a co-accused, was sentenced to 24 years behind bars in 2009 and served his minimum term after being convicted of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Emjedi was released on parole in 2020. Another co-accused, Jefferson Snyders, who was convicted of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 10 years and acquitted of the murder, died four years ago.

On Thursday, Vernon Piedt, the chairperson of the CPF in Athlone, stated: "It is a dialogue between the family and the community. We made a decision that we do not want to influence this meeting; we want to hear what they have to say.

"Myself, as the chairperson of the CPF and the station commander, will be compiling a report that will be forwarded to the Parole Board. This will indicate exactly what people have to say and how they feel. This is the second engagement because during the first engagement she was turned down.

"The whole point of this engagement is that we hope that people can find common ground. I am not saying which way it must go; that is where we are to make sure that the community and family engage. We have handed out about 100 pamphlets and we have also sent this to various neighbourhood watch structures.

"This is an interesting process for the community because of who she is and who she was in the area and where she lived as a community person, and we know that there are pros and cons that will come from the community. He said he hoped the engagement would be fruitful."

Cape Argus also approached Taliep’s children jointly for comment about the hearing, in which they said they opted not to respond.

Earlier during an interview with the Weekend Argus Taliep’s daughters, A’eesha and Faitema, said they had forgiven Dirk and that she needed help psychologically.

The daughters said they needed to set themselves free of the hate and resentment for the sake of their baby sister, Zaynub Petersen, who still needed her mother.

They added Dirk had given them closure during the Victim Offender Dialogue in August 2024, where she admitted she had “a partial involvement” in their father’s murder, and if she did not allow a dodgy deal to be brought to their home, none of it would have happened.

Petersen’s sister, Maatoema Groenmeyer, had a different view, stating they would launch a second appeal: "We will go to the public forum to hear how the neighbours feel about her coming out on parole. We won the last appeal. We pray that she stays in prison. She had her hand on the trigger that ended his life."

Earlier, Groenmeyer described her brother’s final moments, stating he knew death was coming: "They wore white balaclavas, which they got from people who were bikers. They kicked him to the ground and floor and tied him up, and his mouth was bleeding and he had teeth broken as they kicked him in the face."She (Najwa) walked past them and helped to bind him. 'Skiet hom nou,' (shoot him now) he (Taliep) asked if he could recite the Lord’s Prayer, and he saw he was going to be killed."

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus