Guard Confesses in S. African Slaying

A Cape Town security guard has confessed to killing former South African first lady Marike de Klerk, police said Friday.

The 21-year-old man, who cannot be identified until he is formally charged, was arrested Thursday morning. He pleaded guilty before a court in the port city that evening, police spokesman Supt. Wicus Holtzhausen said.

Police have until this afternoon to charge the man. They were still investigating a motive for the crime Friday and would not rule out the possibility of further detentions.

“We are still collecting evidence and clues from the crime scene, and also trying to obtain witness statements and statements from people who can help us in solving this crime,” Holtzhausen said. “All depends on what this brings to the fore.”

De Klerk, 64, the ex-wife of South Africa’s last apartheid-era president, Frederik W. de Klerk, was found by her hairdresser Tuesday at her luxury, high-security apartment just north of Cape Town.

A post-mortem Wednesday revealed that she had been hit in the face at least twice and stabbed in the back with a steak knife that broke, leaving the blade in her body. She was then strangled, police said.

There was no sign of a forced entry, Holtzhausen said.

Local commentators said the offense served as a further indication that South Africa’s crime problem is spiraling out of control and that no segment of society is immune to indiscriminate violence.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with more than 20,000 homicides committed each year, according to police statistics.

“Most murders are perpetrated by young black males, where people close to them, friends or family, are involved,” said Elrena van der Spuy, director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. “What makes this different? It’s a high-profile person, middle-class, living in a nice neighborhood. It will perhaps send a signal that everyone is exposed to the risk of being a victim of violent crime.”

The national police service is known to be lacking in resources, officers are overburdened, and morale is generally low. But Thursday, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi vowed that investigators would not rest until the arrest of a culprit or culprits in the De Klerk killing and until a solid case has been built.

The young black guard arrested Thursday was identified through clues gathered by the investigators, including a call made from the victim’s cellular phone, Western Cape Police Commissioner Lennit Max told reporters Friday.

According to Holtzhausen, the suspect had been working for the Securicor Gray company for a year and had received police clearance before his appointment. Holtzhausen also said the suspect had been described as diligent, efficient and hard-working, with an impeccable record. He had even been tapped for a promotion.

In recent years, the rise in violent crime, along with a growing lack of confidence in the national police force, has led to an explosion of private security companies that offer personal and home protection and a rapid armed response to crime.

Van der Spuy, the criminology expert, said the fact that a security guard may have been involved in De Klerk’s death will cause further unease.

“It exposes other anxieties around the ones who are paid to protect, then become the perpetrators of violent crime,” she said. “This is scary stuff.”

On Friday, mourners packed a Cape Town church to pay tribute to the former first lady, who was divorced from Frederik de Klerk in 1998 after 39 years of marriage.

Speaking to journalists, an emotional Frederik de Klerk, who had cut short a trip to Norway, where he was attending a symposium of Nobel Peace laureates, commended the police for their diligence in investigating the crime.