A Pretoria mother is so upset by the Chanelle Henning drive-by shooting that she now fears her “extremely dangerous” former husband may follow suit and harm her. She has turned to the Pretoria High Court for protection.
The woman – the parties are not identified, to protect their children – earlier obtained an order on an ex parte basis (without informing her former husband before the application). It says he may not harm her or come within 100m of her home or place of work.
He may also not harm their children or the woman’s new husband or his children.
The man, a former policeman – described in court papers as a well-trained security officer and bodyguard doing high-profile security work abroad – had until this week to answer the allegations against him and to say why the order should not be confirmed.
He denied wrongdoing and said his former wife’s claims that she might become a second Chanelle Henning because of his conduct, were slanderous and disturbing.
The woman told the court they were divorced last year because of his “physical abuse of her, his unacceptable philandering and his general laziness”.
She described him as a good father to their children, however.
The woman is highly upset by a BlackBerry message she saw on his phone after he returned from a holiday with their children. It appeared one of his friends had sent him a picture of a naked woman displaying her private parts.
“I lost my temper and accused (my ex-husband) of totally unacceptable behaviour. I suggested to him that he had certain character flaws, to which I preferred to no longer to be exposed.”
She accused her husband of having “a wandering eye” and “few moral limits”. She said he “drained her emotionally”, was emotionally unstable and aggressive, and she feared him.
“I know this application may be deemed drastic, but the Henning murder which recently hit the news is foremost in my mind. I understand that the murder was committed by a drug-addicted policeman.
“(My ex-husband’s) team leader told me on various occasions that I should get protection for myself… I am fearful that (he) is capable of committing similar deeds as in the Henning matter.”
But the man denied ever having threatened his ex-wife. To say he was “a very dangerous man” was an overstatement, he said. That he was a bodyguard did not mean he was a danger to others, he argued.
His ex-wife’s Henning allegations were, “to say the least, extremely worrisome”, he said.
“I view the allegations that I am capable of a so-called contract killing, as in the Henning case, as defamatory and in a serious light.”
He said comparing him with the Henning case was absurd, as that case differed materially.
The man said he would fight this application by the mother of his children “with all his might”, as her allegations were “totally unfounded”. - Pretoria News