JADE WITTEN
Court Reporter
A MANENBERG woman who allegedly threatened former community safety MEC Lennit Max with disclosing their alleged affair if he did not find her work, wanted to get back at him for failing to secure her a post, the Malmesbury Regional Court has heard.
Belinda Petersen, 35, who faces a charge of attempted extortion, yesterday denied she had a vendetta against Max. In her testimony, Petersen, who has pleaded not guilty, said she was taking a stand for women’s rights, especially those who were used by men in power.
But State advocate Christhenus van der Vijver said: “You were a consenting adult and when Max did not help you in your (disciplinary) hearing, you lost your job and blamed him. Over time, when a job was not forthcoming, you thought ‘I’m going to show you’. When you saw the article (in Die Son) on February 9, 2010, you jumped on the bandwagon.”
Petersen hit back in an address to magistrate Michelle Adams.
“Women must expose what’s happening. I lost everything, I can’t get a job and (have) accepted it. But I said until here and no further. I didn’t want Max’s job and empty promises, but I decided to put a stop to the whoring of Max. I was so naive and stupid and I take full responsibility for sleeping with Max, a married man. I want women out there to know there is hope and they can stand up like a phoenix with their heads held high.”
In her plea explanation, Petersen, a former police clerk, said she met Max in 2007 when she needed him to represent her in a police disciplinary hearing.
After discussing the possibility that Max, who is also an advocate, would represent her, he told her she could not afford his legal fees. Petersen testified that she intended paying Max in instalments, but he allegedly wanted payment in sexual favours. Although reluctant, she said, she agreed.
Max represented Petersen in the disciplinary hearing, but later withdrew as her lawyer.
She admitted in court yesterday that she had sex with Max, who promised to help her find a job after she had been suspended from the police.
In November 2007, at the end of the hearing, Petersen lost her job and was found guilty of insubordination, dereliction of duty and absenteeism.
It is alleged that she threatened Max during October 2007 and February 2010 to give her a job or she would take the story to the media. She did just that last year when an article about sexual escapades in Max’s office surfaced in the media.
Closing arguments and judgment in the extortion matter is expected on October 28.