MAN PROSECUTED FOR MURDER – PRIVATE PROSECUTION UNIT ASSISTS COMPLAINANT

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit is currently assisting Sue Mennie, the daughter of the late Genee Berg, in the criminal case against Bergs’s husband. The accused appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on 30 November 2020 on five charges, viz. the murder of Bergs, forgery, possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of ammunition and uttering. He was released on bail of R10 000 and the trial will begin on 22 January 2021 in the South Gauteng High Court.

This follows after the presiding officer in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court found in August 2019 after an inquest that Bergs’s husband was prima facie responsible for her death. Mennie also opened a case of forgery in 2016 against her stepfather at the Parkview police station that could possibly indicate the motive for the murder with premeditation of Bergs.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit wrote to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in April 2020 in this regard after the prosecutor of the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) could not confirm to the complainant if the fraud case – which was essential to make an informed decision regarding the prosecution of the accused – was also sent to the DPP. (The office of the DPP has to make the final decision whether or not to prosecute.)

The DPP confirmed after the letter from the Private Prosecution Unit that the docket in the fraud case was never handed over to them and made the necessary arrangements to obtain the docket from the prosecutor after which action was finally instituted.

“AfriForum welcomes the prosecution of Genee Bergs’s husband, as well as the fact that the case was transferred to the High Court today, since it appears that the NPA is now taking active steps to ensure that the case receives the necessary attention. We will continue to assist Sue Mennie until justice prevails,” says Natasha Venter, AfriForum’s Advisor for Private Prosecution.