Cronje death threat suspect nabbed
Fakir Hassen
A suspect who made death threats against disgraced former South Africa cricket captain Hansie Cronje was nabbed by police in Bloemfontein.
This was just hours after the cricketer came out fighting at a press
conference on Tuesday against allegations of undisclosed sums of money in 19
bank accounts.
A 61-year-old pensioner was taken into custody on allegations of having made
a phone call to Cronje's father, Ewie Cronje, in which he allegedly said
that his son would be shot dead if he returned to Bloemfontein.
The call was recorded on Ewie Cronje's answering machine and traced to the
suspect by private investigators assisted by the telephone company Telkom.
The suspect reportedly said the call had been a joke, but Cronje senior said
it was a very sick one. The man is said to be a former roommate of Cronje
senior at the Grey College, which they both attended many years ago.
Ewie Cronje said the call was very disturbing in view of the fact that it
came not only while he was making arrangements for his mother-in-law's
funeral but also when his son was busy with the press conference, trying to
clear his name after allegations of stashed funds.
The allegations had appeared in the British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph
that he had stashed away more than 10 million rands in 19 bank accounts.
Cronje, who has been banned for life for his involvement in match-fixing,
produced evidence to justify all the untested deposits listed by forensic
auditors.
He will contest the life ban in the high court in September, and will meet
the public prosecutor, Bulelani Ngcuka, on Wednesday to discuss the issue of
the amnesty he had been promised if he came clean at the King Commission.
The commission has since closed down, but its chairman, Judge Edwin King,
said he could not give a clear ruling on whether Cronje should granted
indemnity.
The cricketer also faces possible action for currency and taxation
contraventions.
Indo-Asian News Service