Marike de Klerk’s murderer gets parole

The man convicted of the murder of former president FW de Klerk's ex-wife Marike is set to be placed on parole from the end of this month, the department of correctional services announced on Tuesday.

Luyanda Mboniswa was convicted and sentenced to life behind bars in 2003 for the murder of Marike de Klerk. He was also slapped with a 15-year jail term for robbery. 

The former first lady, who was 64 years old, was stabbed in the back and strangled in her apartment at the Dolphin Beach estate in Blouberg, Cape Town, in December 2001. Mboniswa, who stole a gold watch, a cellphone, two torches and some money, had worked at the complex as a security guard. He was 21 at the time of the crime.

The department's Singabakho Nxumalo, in a statement, confirmed Mboniswa's parole placement 20 years after sentencing, effective from August 30, 2023.

“In compliance with the Correctional Services Act, Mboniswa was considered for parole placement having served the minimum required time. The parole placement process started from the preparation of the profile by the case management committee and consideration by the correctional supervision and parole board.

“The national council for correctional services also dealt with the profile before its submission to the minister of justice and correctional services for a decision. The minister is empowered by section 78 of the Correctional Services Act to make a determination on those sentenced to life.

Nxumalo said upon release, Mboniswa “will be admitted into the system of community corrections, whereby he is expected to comply with specific set of parole conditions for the rest of his natural life”.

“He will be assigned a monitoring official to render supervision duties. Normal parole conditions will apply, such as being restricted to his magisterial district. He is also not allowed to have contact with the family of the victim and shall not change his residential address without informing the monitoring official.”

The department reiterated that parole formed part of the “total rehabilitation programme” aimed at correcting an offender's behaviour and said it “may include continuation of programmes in the system of community corrections”.

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