The mystery surrounding the death of John ‘Matambu’ Dercksen has taken a new turn as information came to light about the absconding of the main suspect, Ferdie Visser.

In a bizarre sequence of events described below, resemblances to the Thabo Bester escape seem to gradually come into focus.

The Department of Correctional Services’ (DCS) spokesperson, Opheliah Motloutsi, confirmed on Friday, November 8, that Visser had absconded from the Tonga Community Corrections facility near Komatipoort more than six weeks ago, on September 23, apparently while doing community service.

However, news of his possible disappearance only surfaced when Matambu’s sister, Cherie Eilertsen, posted about it on Facebook on Monday, October 28.

Adv Gerrie Nel subsequently wrote a scathing letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on November 1, demanding confirmation of Visser’s status. He has yet to receive a response.

According to the DCS, Visser was released on parole on March 6 after having served half of a three-year sentence for an unrelated matter.

Visser was admitted to the Tonga Community Corrections office on the same day with a sentence expiry date of August 30, 2025. He was meant to remain at the designated address provided to the DCS – understood to be his parents’ house in Marloth Park.

However, when parole officers checked on Visser between March 7 and 22, he was not to be found there.

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Motloutsi said Visser was subsequently traced and found in custody in the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in Empangeni for alleged fraud and theft. This after his alleged involvement in John Matambu’s disappearance on March 16.

Circumstantial evidence presented in a previous letter Nel directed to the DPP on October 4 suggested that Visser had fraudulently chartered Matambu’s boat and killed him in an attempt to flee to Mozambique to escape his parole conditions.

Motloutsi said after the Matambu case had been struck from the roll in the Manguzi Magistrate’s Court on May 21, Visser was placed back on parole in the previous matter on June 26 and readmitted to the Tonga Community Corrections’ office as a high-risk category parolee.

Although she was unable to confirm how the DCS had learnt of Visser’s absconsion, Motloutsi clarified that Visser had not escaped from prison, but absconded while out on parole.

His designated address is understood to still be his parents’ in Marloth Park. She explained that parolees typically performed community service such as cleaning schools. This is the second time Visser has absconded while on parole for this same matter.

Motloutsi said a case of abscondment was opened with the Komatipoort SAPS and an internal tracing team was working to locate him. However, Lowvelder has reliably learnt that the Komatipoort SAPS has no such docket on record. In addition, Nel said the investigating officer in the Matambu case was also not made aware of Visser’s transfer to Tonga.

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Mbombela case

While Matambu’s family members and friends are left grappling with the unanswered questions surrounding Visser’s disappearance, the victim of another ‘horrifically demeaning’ crime Visser allegedly committed in Mbombela in 2015 is coming to terms with old wounds reopened by the news of his latest vanishing act.

While the Criminal Procedure Act prohibits Lowvelder from disclosing the nature of the alleged crime, we can confirm that Nel has been briefed by the victim to ensure the matter is re-enrolled. He has also been briefed to consider private prosecution should the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refuse to prosecute.

In a letter directed to the DPP in Mpumalanga, Nel said they remained in the dark as to the reasons for the failure to prosecute Visser. He also expressed concern that Visser had been released on parole (om March 6) despite the pending Mbombela case against him.

Nel concluded the letter with a strong statement that further delays in responding to his team’s enquiries would support their inference that ‘Visser had received untoward assistance to escape prosecution in this matter’.

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Speaking to Lowvelder, the Mbombela victim said Visser’s disaapearacne has opened a Pandora’s box. “Just as I think things couldn’t get more bizarre, they do. I was absolutely shocked when I received the call on Friday. I would like to know where my docket is. I hope there aren’t more [undiscovered] victims out there,” the victim said.

According to the victim, the investigating officer maintained the case was strong, but after he was shot, the case grinded to a halt. The victim also questioned why the case was being handled in a ‘hush-hush’ manner.

Responding to questions, the Mpumalanga NPA’s spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, said the docket has been requested from the Senior Public Prosecutor’s office. She said the DPP had no background information on the matter as it dated back to 2015, but the DPP was in the process of obtaining the case docket to consider the reasons for not prosecuting Visser and to make a decision. She committed to further comments once the docket had been received.

This article was amended after it was first published. Lowvelder initially reported that Visser had escaped from custody while performing community service. The publication was subsequently informed that he was on parole and therefore did not escape but merely absconded.

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