The Scorpions were not involved in the investigation of the Taliep Petersen murder, an affidavit on record at the murder trial of his widow and three co-accused has confirmed.
The widow, Najwa Petersen, and her co-accused have pleaded not guilty to the murder. They are on trial at the Cape High Court before Judge Siraj Desai and assessors.
The affidavit follows an allegation by Petersen that the Scorpions paid Fahiem Hendriks, a close friend of hers, to be a state witness.
Petersen on Monday told the court she had a ”gut feeling” that Hendriks had framed her for the murder. However, Prosecutor Shareen Riley alleges that Peterson had in fact approached Hendriks to find hit men to murder her husband.
In Monday’s affidavit, Willie Viljoen, the Western Cape head of the Scorpions, told the court he would have been informed had the Scorpions been involved in the investigation in any manner whatsoever. He would also have known what role they had played in the investigation.
Viljoen certified that he was not aware of any such investigation by the Scorpions.
He was also responsible for the authorisation of all informant rewards motivated or paid out by his office, and certified that his office did not motivate or pay any amounts at all to any source relating to the Petersen investigation.
Viljoen said he had read news reports about Hendriks’s involvement in the case as a state witness.
He said it was alleged in one of Petersen’s bail applications that a substantial sum had been paid by the Scorpions for Hendriks to be a state witness, but this was incorrect.
The hearing continues. — Sapa