Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit flags possible lapses in murdered ex-cop’s case

A retired, well-respected murder and robbery detective has turned to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit for assistance because he fears the SAPS has not gathered all available evidence in the murder case involving his daughter, who was also a former police detective. The unit represents Colonel Willie Steyn (ret) and his family, whose daughter Riana Nel was brutally assaulted and left for dead before passing away in a hospital about a week later. Mauritz Andries Rheeder, Nel’s partner, is accused of committing the crime and is in custody pending a bail application.

Rheeder, who is also a former police officer, is accused of assaulting Nel on the night of 31 May in the couple’s shared flat in Mthatha, then allegedly staging the scene to make it appear as if she had been murdered. However, she did not die at the scene, and after a family member intervened, Nel was taken to hospital. Nel sustained severe head injuries, and her body was covered in scratches and bruises. She died in the hospital on 6 June without regaining full consciousness or being able to explain what happened.

The unit has written to the Madeira SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority, indicating that Nel’s family and the unit are fully committed to ensuring that the matter is fully investigated, all relevant evidence is collected and included in the docket, and the perpetrator is prosecuted. “This tragic incident is yet another case of gender-based violence; this time, the deceased, a vulnerable victim, was subjected to a sickening assault that resulted in her death,” said Adv. Gerrie Nel, head of the unit.

“Not only were the accused and victim former SAPS officers, but the victim’s father, Colonel Willie Steyn (retired), is a well-respected, accomplished, and experienced detective who served in the SAPS’s Murder and Robbery specialised unit for many years. We are faced with the tragic irony that a family dedicated to advancing the criminal justice system is now in need of services from the very system they devoted themselves to,” he said.

The unit has alerted the police to possible lapses in the investigation that require immediate attention, not only to ensure a successful prosecution, but also to oppose Rheeder’s bail application, which is currently being heard in the Mthatha Magistrates Court.

The bail application resumes on 1 July.