characters > andre neethling

Andre Neethling’s story

"You’ve got to work hard at it, but you can get justice at the end of the day."

• Before the film
• The case is re-opened
• The police start the hunt for evidence
• The investigation stalls
• The police interview the suspect
• Update on police investigation - November 2002
• 12 months after the film - November 2003

Before the film

In the 1980s, a unit was established in South Africa to deal specifically with sexual assault and child rape cases. When filmmaker Cathy Henkel returned to South Africa in 2002, the head of the Unit was Superintendent Andre Neethling.

The case is re-opened

When Cathy met with Andre, he explained, "We are the investigative authority. We are not the prosecuting authority. But what we can do from our side is to re-open the case, and look at those questions that you had, because if a case was withdrawn, it can be re-opened at any time".

Andre then explained that his unit could present the case to the Prosecutor, which he hoped would provide the Henkel family with "some kind of closure".

He assigned the case to Captain Arnold Boonstra, and gave Cathy permission to follow the investigation and film it.

Arnold and his partner, Ferdi, focus on the investigation of serial rapists and child rape. Police work in Johannesburg is dangerous, and hundreds of police officers are killed each year in the line of duty - so they always work in pairs.

The police start the hunt for evidence

Arnold arranged a meeting between Cathy and the elderly volunteer police reservist, Myra Carel, who’d worked on Laura’s case back in 1989. Myra had done most of the leg-work, including getting a photograph from the school [which the perpetrator had told Laura he attended]. Unfortunately, Myra didn't remember many details of the case, and she was surprised when she identified the same boy Laura had picked from the photo.

Arnold also organised a meeting with the previous investigating officer, Jan van der Mescht, who had retired from the force.

A year earlier, when Cathy was filming her initial approach to the police, Van der Mescht told another superintendent that he had interviewed a suspect who admitted being in Laura’s house but denied the assault.

Van der Mescht wouldn't meet with Cathy at that time, but he now agreed that she could attend the meeting and film it, as long as the camera was just resting on her knee.

Van der Mescht denied any knowledge of somebody being arrested or interviewed in Laura's assault case.

When Cathy said, "You said to me when I came to see you in 1989... that the parents [of the perpetrator] had threatened you. They’d threatened you with false accusation if you continued with this investigation."

Van der Mescht admited this was possible, but wouldn'treveal anything further.

The investigation stalls

Captain Arnold Boonstra showed little interest in investigating whether an ex-police officer was lying or not - he just wanted to track down some physical evidence that he could use to link the suspect with the crime. He placed an order with another department to retrieve the fingerprints taken in 1988.

Arnold told Cathy that the fingerprints might take some time to track down. The case may also take time to investigate because of the reality of the police officers' daily workloads. Arnold was investigating more than 80 cases, including many of child and baby rape, which Cathy understood took precedence over her mother’s case.

Andre explains, "We’ve got 1800 cases that we are investigating at the moment. These are all assault on people. So we have to give equal attention to all of them. But I think, by the end of November, we should be able to at least give you a good answer in terms of where we stand."

Some time later, it emerged that the "docket" (evidence file) for Laura's case had gone missing.

Andre explained that, unfortunately, this does happen, especially if they’re older cases, but that the police department has since improved its archive system.

He promised to investigate the disappearance.

The police interview the suspect

Meanwhile, Arnold interviewed the suspect - only days after Cathy herself confronted him. (The suspect responded by hiring a lawyer, and refused further contact with Cathy.)

When Cathy told Arnold what she'd done, he didn't object. In fact, he took a copy of the video of the confrontation as part of his evidence.

Arnold reported back to Cathy that the suspect had come up with an alibi. He told Arnold that he was in Cape Town on the night of the attack. Arnold visited Cape Town and discovered that the hotel in which the suspect had claimed to have stayed had closed down.

There can be no verification of the suspect's alibi. It’s his word, and those of his witnesses, against Laura's.

Update on police investigation - November 2002

When Cathy was due to leave South Africa, Andre informed her that the case had been fully investigated and that it would be passed on to the prosecutor: "Hopefully that will be enough to at least [get] a court case going."

Cathy also introduced Arnold to her brother Michael. Arnold promised to keep in contact with Michael, and told Cathy, "As soon as I hear anything from the DPP (Department of Public Prosecutions), I’ll give him a call."

12 months after the film - November 2003

Andre explained that, since the completion of the film, the Sexual Offences Unit has been resourced to capacity and he believed that the chances of getting justice in sexual assault cases had increased, even though it was still difficult. In the previous three-month period, his unit's investigations resulted in 24 life sentences being issued. A further 44 sexual predators had received jail sentences ranging from 10 to 25 years.

But Andre had no good news about Laura's case.

He told Cathy, "I haven’t been following your mother’s case as closely, but the last that I dealt with it, it was presented to the Director of Public Prosecutors for a decision and, subsequently, I believe Arnold Boonstra, the investigating officer, is still investigating the matter."

Find out more...

 Mini-doc transcript - Andre and the police's story