Cape Town — The Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, has denied the allegations that were made by Louis Liebenberg’s attorney.
Liebenberg’s lawyer had alleged that his client, the alleged diamond ponzi scheme mastermind, had overheard Groenewald telling prison authorities to make his life “hell in prison”, a statement said.
The lawyer said his client wished to place it on record that when he was transferred to the Kgosi Mamparu correctional centre, he had encountered two wardens who were told about his arrival in advance.
Liebenberg then told his lawyer that the wardens were in contact with Groenewald, who had told them to “make his life a living hell”, which Liebenberg claims he overheard and said was specifically targeted at him
Groenewald denied the allegations and was prepared to give a sworn affidavit to support his position,
“He has also extended an invitation to Mr Liebenberg to identify the wardens in question, which would facilitate a comprehensive investigation into the potential correlation with their cellphone numbers,” Department spokesperson, Eune Oelofsen, said.
The DCS is responsible for conducting regular searches for cell phones and other contraband items, which includes tip-offs received from the public.
Oelofsen said it was a frivolous attempt to mislead the court to grant Liebenberg bail and Gorenewald said the case would proceed as intended.
“Liebenberg is a remand detainee and will be treated like any other remand detainee, without receiving special treaement,” Groenewald said,
Allegations made by Mr Louis Liebenberg are untrue. pic.twitter.com/Y0W3p62L21
— The Department Correctional Services 🇿🇦 (@DCS_ZA) October 31, 2024
According to TimesLIVE, Liebenberg had abandoned his bail during his previous court appearance, while three other accused were also released on bail.
This included Magdelena Petronella Kleynhans, Helena Dorothea Amy Schulenburg, and Walter Niendinger.
Four more accused were granted unopposed bail wich included Petrus Badenhortst (R15 000), Adriaan Dewald (R20 000) while Christelle Badenhorst and Nicolize van Heerden were granted R5 000 bail each.
The matter was postponed until November 15 for a bail application by Liebenberg and his wife Desiree Liebenberg. The case against the rest of the accused was postponed until February 4 for further investigations.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
