Cape Town | Thursday
SLAIN former first lady Marike de Klerk’s dance partner John Thebus has sold the exclusive rights to the story of their friendship to a South African magazine.
Thebus (52) refused to be interviewed by the Cape Times.
However, he said that de Klerk, widely believed to have thwarted an engagement between her son Willem and Erica Adams, a ”coloured” woman, had been misunderstood.
Thebus, with whom she had a close friendship is a person of colour.
”She was a real person,” he said.
Thebus refused to say how much he had sold his story for and to which magazine.
On Tuesday Thebus was named as an accomplice by the 21-year-old security guard who has been charged with de Klerk’s murder.
Luyanda Mboniswa, who was refused bail on Wednesday, alleged that Thebus had persuaded him to help break into de Klerk’s home and had offered him R20 000.
He claimed Thebus had stabbed and strangled de Klerk during the burglary.
However, Thebus, who has an alibi, passed a lie detector test, agreed to have his home and car searched and submitted clothes for forensic testing.
In an interview with another newspaper Thebus was reported to have said: ”It was easy to point the finger at me because I was probably Marike’s most frequent visitor.”
He also denied that there was a romantic relationship, as he is gay.
He told the paper he had been de Klerk’s dance instructor for ”finishing touches” for a year until her death, visiting her on Monday nights for an evening of dinner and dancing.
However, none of her friends who spoke to the media on Tuesday knew about the relationship.
He said early in their friendship he needed to sign the guest book at the Dolphin Beach apartment block but it became unnecessary after he became known to the security guards.
”Marike was a beautiful person. On the Friday before her death we went dancing together. She was so relaxed and happy,” Thebus said. – Sapa