The man accused of killing a trainee diplomat has been allowed to leave the country, writes David Beresford
WEDDING bells were due to ring out for Roslyn Perkins this week. Instead she is nursing her grief in England and fuming at a demonstration of the apparent powerlessness of the powerful where the new South Africa is concerned.
>From her home in London, Perkins — health and safety advisor to the Save the Children Fund — has been firing off a steady stream of bitter faxes to the South African authorities, demanding to know why they are not taking tougher action against her fiance’s alleged murderer.
Her fiance was Nithianandan “Elvis” Govender, the ANC trainee diplomat who died during a “team-building” picnic at the Vaal Dam five weeks ago. The man who is alleged to have killed him in a particularly vicious attack on board a catamaran has now been allowed by the courts to leave the country for four months. He is taking part in the Cape to Rio yacht race.
The full story of Govender’s death still has to emerge from trial. But its aftermath already has lawyers for the family — appointed on the initiative of President Nelson Mandela and the ANC secretary general, Cyril Ramaphosa — demanding disciplinary action against the investigating officer, so far without apparent
Govender was a former MK guerrilla and ANC national organiser. A fast-rising star in the civil service, he was expected to take up a position as director in the Department of Foreign Affairs on completion of his fast-track training course. But he died on November 10 during a Vaal braai after boarding a catamaran with another trainee, Jacqueline Coetzer. The boat was owned by the manager of a local aquatic club, Allan Stokes.
By Coetzer’s account they were idling their way through anchored yachts in a rowing boat when they heard a radio playing on the seemingly deserted catamaran and boarded to switch it off.
According to Stokes the couple broke into the vessel and looted his provisions.
Stokes spotted them from the shore and raced out to confront them in a motorised dinghy, armed with a panga. Allegedly shouting obscenities he drove them off the vessel — Coetzer, who couldn’t swim, managing to cling on to the rowing boat and drifting away; Govender hanging on to the anchor line with Stokes chopping at his hands to try and make him let go. Stokes claims Govender then drowned, but he has been accused of ramming Govender repeatedly with his dingy against the side of the catamaran, killing him.
The findings of the official post-mortem are not yet known. But a private pathologist flown in from Durban by the family has reported multiple abrasions, cuts to Govender’s hand and back, and head injuries consistent with an attack with a panga and being rammed by a dinghy.
Back on shore Coetzer, in a swimming costume, found Stokes had fetched two police constables who were amiably chatting to him. When Coetzer began walking away to dress, one of the policemen attempted to arrest her for house- breaking and theft. After an argument they let her free. No apparent attempt was made to find Govender.
Stokes was only charged with murder nearly four weeks later, appearing before a magistrate last Wednesday without the Govender family lawyers being informed. After discovering that he had been released on a warning and no bail, and the case adjourned until April 15, the lawyers protested to the prosecutor who said it had been on the instructions of the attorney general. The attorney general denied this.
Stokes was brought before the court again last Friday for a formal bail application — again without the knowledge of the family lawyers — – and the magistrate was informed of his yachting plans. The court again released him without bail, merely warning him to get back from Brazil in time for the April 5 hearing.
“The man is going off to have a nice time on a boat for three months,” raged Roslyn Perkins in London. “How does that feel to you when you’ve had the person murdered who was going to be with you for the rest of your life? It makes my blood boil.”
Charging that the alleged murder was clearly racial, in that Stokes let the white girl get away, but attacked her fiance who is Indian, Perkins said: “I’m upset about the low-key way people who worked with him are dealing with it. It’s difficult to comprehend the passivity with which people accept death and racism in South