Former Krejcir lawyer accused of racial slur
RADOVAN Krejcir’s former lawyer, advocate Annelene van den Heever, has been accused of pulling a Penny Sparrow by allegedly referring to members of a security team as monkeys.
Randfontein police spokesperson Captain Appel Ernst confirmed that a docket of intimidation had been opened against Van den Heever after the incident, which allegedly took place at the Kagiso Regional Court.
The security team involved are Tactical Response Team officers monitoring each of Krejcir’s criminal court proceedings, and were attending to a related case at the court last Monday.
Van den Heever was representing an accused at the court who was guarded by the team that day.
According to multiple sources linked to the Krejcir investigation, when she, and relatives of the accused, were asked to remain outside the courtroom until proceedings were ready to begin, the advocate allegedly refused to comply, which lead to a verbal altercation.
After eventually making her way into the court, Van den Heever was then allegedly heard by court officials referring to members of the security team as “these monkeys”.
In January, real estate agent Penny Sparrow became infamous for using the same term on social media to refer to black people, and was fined R150 000 by the Equality Court.
While some members of the team confronted Van den Heever about the alleged use of the slur on the day, it was only two days later that the case was opened at the Kagiso police station.
The case remains under investigation, and has yet to be forwarded to the National Prosecuting Authority.
But Van den Heever has vehemently denied the allegations and accused the security team of sexism, racism and trying to prevent her from doing her job.
In a six-page memorandum to the Cape Times’ sister newspaper The Star, Van den Heever said she was accosted by the “aggressive” task team members, which she claimed had also happened in the past, but at no point had she used the term “monkey”.
“I furthermore wish to point out that it would be professional suicide… The probability of me doing anything of this nature is absolutely zero. I verily believe that their conduct against me smacks of sexism and racism.”
In a separate memorandum by her attorney, Sinen Mnguni, Van den Heever said she had numerous statements from other court officials present that day who would corroborate the fact that she never used any such slur.
“We believe that this attack on the character of Advocate Van den Heever by members of the SAPS and others is just another endeavour by the investigation team to cause (her) to stop acting in the litany of cases that started with the so-called Krejcir case and can only be attributed to ulterior motives,” Mnguni’s memorandum reads.
In October last year, it was reported that Van den Heever faced arrest for allegedly refusing to appear in court to answer questions relating to her representing Zimbabwean debt collector, Phumlani Ncube, who Krejcir is also accused of killing. However, according to Van den Heever, the Section 205 request and subsequent arrest warrant for contempt of court were dropped by the State.
While Van den Heever no longer represents Krejcir after a payment dispute, she is representing one of the Czech fugitive’s co-accused, Siboniso Miya. She is also currently representing twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, who have been arrested on terror-related charges.