Cape Town - On the 17th anniversary of the tragic murder of the Cape music legend, Taliep Petersen, family are yet to know the fate of whether parole will be granted to his estranged wife, Najwa Dirk (“Petersen”) who is at Pollsmoor Prison, as a new hearing has been set for next year.
A year ago, parole hearing proceedings began for Dirk who became eligible to apply for parole.
This week, Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed that Dirk would be eligible for a parole hearing in the new year, but did not specify the intended date.
“The Department can only confirm a parole hearing once a date has been set and relevant parties informed,” he said.
Petersen’s children took to social media last week, dedicating songs and messages to their late father.
Taliep’s son, Ashur Petersen posted a video of himself singing, “The Impossible dream,” on the 17th anniversary of the tragic death of his father, via his TikTok account.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM6hvEQHK/He was quoted as saying: “Seventeen years ago today, you were taken from us. There’s no words to describe
how much I miss you, how much I yearn for your guidance. This video is the closest way I’ll ever get to sing with you again. May Allah grant you the highest of places in Jannah. In’Sha’Allah Ameen, I love you, I love you.”
Petersen’s daughter, Jawaahier Petersen, who is an actress and singer, said that the family would not be commenting at this stage due to the emotions brought on by the anniversary.
“We are trying to have a peaceful break from all of the sadness this year,” she told Weekend Argus.
On December 16, 2006, Petersen was shot and killed inside his Grasmere home in Athlone and the family have yet to have closure on who pulled the trigger on the fatal evening.
Previously the Petersen family were in the dark when parole proceedings were under way, like that of Dirk’s co-accused, Waheed Hassen, who had met the parole board in 2021.
In March 2021, eight members of the murdered music icon’s family attended Hassen’s parole hearing.
Dirk was sentenced to 28 years after being convicted for being the mastermind behind her husband’s murder. Hassen received 25 years.
Abdoer Raasiet Emjedi, another 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.
Jefferson Snyders, also a former accused, who was convicted of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 10 years and acquitted of the murder, died three years ago.
During an exclusive interview with You magazine in November last year, Zaynab Petersen, Taliep and Dirk’s daughter, said that she had wished to lie next to her mother.
She told of how she had been haunted by the murder of her father and recalled how he had been laying in a pool of blood in their home when she was just seven-years-old.