Marius van der Westhuizen. (Nasief Manie/Netwerk24)
The correctional services department has directed that a board review the decision to grant parole to former Claremont police officer, Marius van der Westhuizen, who was jailed for the 2006 murder of his three children.
He was due to be released on parole on 31 July 2024, after serving 13 years of an effective 24-year jail sentence.
He had unsuccessfully applied for parole on two occasions.
Last month, the department said Van der Westhuizen had accepted responsibility for killing his children, aged 21 months, five years and 16 years.
At the time, it said he had participated in therapeutic and other rehabilitation interventions.
He had the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the time of the murders and was stationed at the Claremont police station in Cape Town.
On Thursday, the department’s spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, said: “The department believes it is fair and in the interest of justice to scrutinise the process followed [by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board] and the assessment reports in the profile of Marius van der Westhuizen.”
His wife, Charlotte, said in a recent social media post that he shot their children “because [she] didn’t listen to him”.
“He murdered my children to punish me. He walked from child to child and shot each of them in their heads. He then locked me inside. I could see my children were dead,” she said.
She told Netwerk24 that she feared for her life, and still had nightmares about him every night.
