Evidence for new probe
Paedophile Van Rooyen’s Bloed Street haunt
THE Gert van Rooyen case might be cold, but a recent re-examination of the case has revealed the possibility exists that there is still enough evidence out there to solve this decades-old crime.
In 2010, then Hawks detective Marcel van der Watt became involved in the Gert Van Rooyen case after being approached by three sources who claimed there were gross irregularities in the original investigation.
His investigation led him to Pretoria where he visited 17 addresses allegedly linked to the case.
“To me it was quite clear that there were numerous lines of enquiry that could still be explored.”
Van der Watt and his commanding officer later flew to Pretoria from Port Elizabeth to meet with the then head of the Hawks, General Anwar Dramat.
“I strongly recommended that we re-open the Van Rooyen investigation. I had a list of 121 individuals compiled by the sources who could still add value to the investigation. I informed General Dramat that the people are growing old, and that time and opportunities to do something about the case are rapidly dissipating” said Van der Watt.
He added that two formal letters drafted by a family member with specific questions and addressed directly to General Dramat and General Bheki Cele remained unanswered to this day.
But what Van der Watt did learn from the case was that there were allegations from sources of a cover-up in the investigation.
“There were allegations from former police and current police members that there were irregularities in the investigation and there were one or two exbrothel owners who echoed the same thing. That there were politicians who visited the brothels and were involved with children. They claimed there to be an acquaintance between Gert van Rooyen and these politicians.”
Van der Watt, who is a well-known human trafficking specialist at Unisa, believes that valuable insights and answers could be gleaned after all these years.
“It would mean putting together a team and investing the time and money, but it could be worth it,” he said.
“I believe a subsequent investigation was initiated after I left the SAPS, but do not know what the status or outcome of this investigation was.”
He maintains that “by following a systematic process and analysis of whatever information and sources are still available, the government and the police may very well be presented with an opportunity to put speculation to rest. The families and South Africa are owed an answer. It has been three decades and they are still waiting.”
But while there is the possibility of solving the case, new evidence provided by people who knew Van Rooyen as a teenager point to another spot where he might have disposed of the remains of some of his victims.
Beneath a Pretoria shopping mall just off Bloed Street lies the remains of a deep well that was once the playground haunt of South Africa’s most notorious child abductor.
A teenage Van Rooyen once lived in the shadow of the Pretoria CBD, in a small house on Bloed street.
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