‘Bulldog’ Gerrie Nel takes on John Matambu case

Six months to the day since the disappearance of Sodwana skipper John ‘Matambu’ Dercksen, the case, seemingly cold, has roared back to life.

After all but losing hope since the withdrawal of charges against Frederik ‘Ferdie’ Thomas Visser, the man arrested in connection with Matambu’s disappearance, there is a flicker of light in this long, dark tunnel.

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This after renowned Advocate Gerrie Nel met with Matambu’s family on Tuesday and agreed to take on the case.

“We met with Advocate Nel and his team of prosecutors for over two hours,” said Cherie Eilertsen, Matambu’s sister.

“It was remarkable. Advocate Nel and the team each had a copy of the document I had sent, and had made notes all over it. They knew the entire story beginning to end, and had prepared exceptionally well for the meeting. We were stunned.”

Offering to take on the case pro bono, Nel and his team will begin by converting the missing persons case to a murder charge.

They will also pursue the reasons for the withdrawal of the charges and have the matter re-enrolled with the courts.

“Using other matters which cannot be disclosed here, Visser will be kept in jail, hopefully for life,” said Eilertsen.

Case reinvigorated

Cherie’s son Michael said her eight-page chronological documenting of the facts, eyewitness accounts and mobile numbers of every person named was a masterpiece.

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“There’s no embellishment, just pure hard-hitting recounts of everything that transpired.

“The pages go on to account way more than I ever knew, that the family probably doesn’t know; her own investigative masterpiece.

“Stories of previous cases against Visser, how they were dropped when they thought he had died, and how she has singlehandedly brought this case back into the limelight.

“So much so that that’s the first place Gerrie and his team are starting, as they will pursue life in prison on that evidence alone.

“Her presence in the boardroom was powerful. This wasn’t the speaker we know, this was a thoroughly humble sister looking to go as far as it takes to get the result she knew she would get.

“Gerrie’s words were, ‘sometimes the justice system is broken and collapses, and I will fix it with cases like this’.

Matambu was last seen on 16 March, the day he took Visser out on the 21ft Yeld Cat Magnum Too he skippered in Sodwana Bay, and a missing person’s case was opened the following day.

A massive manhunt was launched and the burnt-out carcass of the boat was located in Dobela the following day.

There was no sign of Matambu, and neither he nor his remains have since been found.

Visser was on 20 March spotted by a member of the public in Mozambique, arrested and later extradited to South Africa.

However, charges were withdrawn after the extradition process was found to have been bungled.