Former Western Cape police chief Lennit Max threatened to kill police clerk Belinda Petersen if she revealed their alleged sexual encounters, the Malmesbury Regional Court heard on Thursday.
Questioned about this by defence counsel Sakkie Maartens, she said Max made the threat when she asked him what he would do if she went to the media about their encounters.
Petersen is on trial before magistrate Michelle Adams on a charge of attempted extortion (blackmail).
She was cross-examined on Thursday by senior State advocate Christenus van der Vijver, who said he would question her about the alleged sexual encounters, but that Max denied them. He said the questions did not mean the State accepted they had taken place.
Petersen agreed that she had pertinently asked Max what he would do if she went to the media about the encounters. She was also aware of the power of the media.
Van der Vijver said: “I put it to you that you are fast to threaten with newspapers.”
She said if someone wronged her, she would exercise her rights.
She said there was no freedom of speech in the police, “and if I say something wrong, I can be charged”.
She told the court: “I stand up for my rights. There's a Bill of Rights, Women's Rights as well as the Constitution.
“But, if you stand up for your rights in the police, you are charged.”
She accepted that Max's political commitments prevented him from continuing to represent her in her disciplinary hearing, “but I was very disappointed”.
Van der Vijver asked if she did not find it strange that Max had wanted “payment in kind” for his services, at a time that she had a sexual harassment case pending against the police.
“Was that not a calculated risk he was taking? You could have reported him.”
She replied: “My mind did not work like that. I had lost my job and wanted my work back and to dust myself off. I decided to give my body to him because I was desperate for work.”
Van der Vijver asked: “Am I correct that if Max had brought his side by getting you a new job, we would not be here today?”
She replied: “You are 100 percent right.”
Petersen said she was naive to think Max would have sex only with her.
She said she felt repulsed, angry and jealous to read in Die Son tabloid newspaper about his sexual escapades with others in his office. - Sapa