- By Bev Mortimer
‘A person of interest’ in the case the disappearance of missing Sodwana skipper, John Matambu Derckson, was charged with fraud and theft on Tuesday this week in a South African court in Northern KwaZulu Natal (KZN).
Matambu’s boat,MAGNUM Too, initially missing as well, was found on 17 March, wrecked and completely burnt out and beached off the Mozambique coastline. But there were no signs of Matambu or initially of the person who chartered Matambu’s boat.
Tuesday’s court appearance of the suspect, who allegedly chartered Matambu’s boat on 16 March for a trip up the coast to Mozambique, was announced by members of Matambu’s family yesterday. The family said Matambu’s fiancée, Janine Shaw, supported by friends, faced the suspect in court: “Visser was charged in court and he remains in jail.”
The family said sadly Matambu is currently still missing and the suspect was named as Frederick Thomas Visser. The suspect is being held in a holding cell in Ingwavuma in northern Kwa Zulu Natal, following his extradition from Mozambique to South Africa.
The family also said the court hearing of Visser, was originally scheduled for a court in Manguzi, but, owing to no magistrate there on Tuesday, he was transported by the Police to Ingwavuma for a hearing there. He was charged and held for further investigation and is currently “in a cramped holding cell until he is moved to Manguzi”.
Following the disappearance without a trace of Matambu, police in Sodwana and Mozambique put out public appeals for anyone who could assist in finding Matambu since his disappearance. A photo was released of Visser, who allegedly chartered Matambu’s boat on 16 March for a trip up the coast to Mozambique
Visser, was spotted in Mozambique, arrested, and held in police custody there until South African and Mozambique authorities arranged for his extradition to South Africa. The SAPS Police said he was arrested by the Mozambican authorities for violating their immigration laws and was also recognised as a “person of interest” in the case of the disappearance of Matambu.
Visser is scheduled to appear in court again on 18 April. A further update will be forthcoming.
See initial story: https://stfrancischronicle.com/2024/03/17/26855/
