Najwa Dirk, who is serving time behind bars for the murder of Cape Town music icon Taliep Petersen, has admitted to his children that she played a part in his death and has asked for forgiveness, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Convicted murderer, Najwa Petersen, is eligible for parole next month
Petersen was shot and killed in his home on 16 December 2006. Najwa was arrested on 18 June 2007 in connection with the murder and charged with his ‘planned and/or premeditated’ murder.
She was convicted in the Cape High Court on 2 December 2008 alongside hitmen Abdoer Emjedi and Waheed Hassen. The trio were found guilty of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Najwa was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
During Najwa’s parole proceedings last week, Taliep’s daughters stated that they accepted what happened and that they forgave Najwa to ‘set themselves free’ and for the sake of their little sister Zaynub.
However, Fatiema and A’eesha Petersen noted that Najwa lacked empathy and needed continuous counselling and support.
Najwa’s son Sulaiman Effendi and her siblings as well as Taliep’s sister Maatoema Groenmeyer, and her husband Nasief Groenmeyer were part of the proceedings.
In an exclusive interview with the Weekend Argus, A’eesha said they hugged Najwa – something that had not happened in nearly two decades.
‘Forgiveness to set myself free, to feel liberated that she does not have a hold on me, and I came into the parole room with tawakal, trust in God, He knows exactly what he is doing.’
‘Najwa was not cooperative during the VOD in April, she never really gave us any closure, and we needed to find the closure and she was not prepared to answer, and the VOD was very different to this week,’ she added.
‘I did not anticipate it to go the way it did. It was healing, we embraced Najwa, hugged her, she whispered into our ears. She asked for forgiveness and she said she is really sorry and that nothing that she does can bring my dad back, but she knows that.’
Najwa pleaded not guilty during the murder trial, stating that robbers invaded their home in Grasmere, Athlone and shot and killed Taliep.
‘I could appreciate that, although she said she had a partial involvement in my dad’s murder. I asked her if she wanted our forgiveness. I said, ‘What exactly are you asking forgiveness for, why would you like my forgiveness?’ A’eesha said.
‘She explained that it wasn’t for her dodgy and dirty deal that she brought into our home, without which none of that would have happened, which I thought was very big of her.’
‘I felt like she felt a little protected because her family, her son, her sisters were there, that she felt more free and willing to speak. She even cracked jokes.’
Fatiema noted that Najwa was a ‘broken soul’ who could not help herself because she lacked empathy.
‘We felt comfortable to see her as a person and to move on and that mistakes were made.’
‘Najwa is so scared to face [the] reality that denial is safer. I can respect it, and it is a dark closet to go into and I pray that God guides her because she will be held accountable. We are here on Earth to learn and that is where we have empathy because psychologically she cannot go there.
‘It was a healing experience to see Nadir, as that was her familiar name, to see her as Nadir and not Najwa, and not the darkness, and I am not God.’
She added that the path to forgive Najwa was not easy, as she had fought to decide whether she was making the right decision. However, the sisters realised that their father would have wanted them to.
‘Am I forgiving and am I doing my father an injustice? I prayed about it to God and for me, forgiveness is making peace for what happened. It is reaching a full stage of grief, where you are just at ease with what happened.’
‘He didn’t deserve to go the way he did and no way does it relinquish the value that he makes to the world, even though he is not here, and I thank him.’
A’eesha described her father as a humble and selfless man who would have forgiven Najwa. ‘He genuinely put the next person in front of him. I think we did that man (our father) so proud [of] how we handled it. We never came in guns blazing.’
‘Our lives are no longer at the end point of my father’s murder. We are now at the point of continuing. Najwa is still alive and there is still a life to live,’ Fatiema added.
According to Fatiema, Najwa needed support to be ‘able to see others’. The sisters read the Criminology and Social Worker’s report during the proceedings and the community engagement in Athlone is due to take place in the future.
Until then, the parole proceedings are expected to continue later this month.
‘There are on-going parole consideration processes involving Najwa Petersen. Once the process has been concluded, the Department will issue an alert,’ said Singabakho Nxumalo, the national spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services.
Also read:
Taliep Peterson’s family demands answers following murderer’s release
Picture: Neil Baynes / Gallo Images