Specialist detective for Ferguson’s rape probe against Jordaan

A specialist detective who helped crack high-profile sex crimes has taken over the rape investigation against SA Football Association boss Danny Jordaan after former MP Jennifer Ferguson opened a case against him.

Sergeant Delene Grobler’s record includes successful prosecutions in the cases of the South African branch of the global child pornography ring dubbed Cloud Nine, as well as the rape conviction of former tennis star Bob Hewitt.

It has also emerged that the investigation of Jordaan has been transferred to a specialist national police unit and will not be coming to Port Elizabeth.

Police remain tight-lipped on the probe into the Safa president and former Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, refusing to clarify why the docket has bypassed Port Elizabeth, where the alleged crime took place.

Instead, it has transferred to the national Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit.

Musician Ferguson opened a case of rape against Jordaan at the Parkview police station in Johannesburg two weeks ago.

She initially broke her silence on Facebook on October 18 last year, when she alleged that Jordaan had raped her at the Holiday Inn in Port Elizabeth 24 years ago.

The move by police to transfer the case to the national FCS unit was revealed after queries as to why it had not yet arrived in Port Elizabeth.

Normal police procedure is that the investigation is transferred to the police station in which area the alleged crime took place, which in Ferguson’s case is Humewood.

The docket would be allocated a Humewood police station case number and then sent to the FCS unit.

But police have failed to explain the anomaly. At the time of the case being opened in Johannesburg, Gauteng police spokesman Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said it would be transferred to Port Elizabeth.

Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Dr Johan Burger said it was common for complex and highprofile cases to be taken over by the national police.
“In high-profile cases such as this, and in particular given the complexities around the time that has elapsed since the alleged crime, there is nothing strange about the fact that the national office FCS takes over the investigation.

“They would probably have been instructed to do so. The reasoning would probably have been that this is a highly sensitive matter since two very prominent people are involved.

“It is complicated because of the passage of time since it allegedly happened, and the difficulties of investigating and proving alleged crimes that happened such a long time ago,” he said.

Grobler was a key investigator in the international child porn ring which led to several people around the world – including Jayde Sheldon Bailey, from Port Elizabeth – being arrested.

Bailey, 35, was convicted and sentenced last year to an effective five years behind bars for crimes involving online sexual exploitation of babies and young children.

Also among those convicted was Plettenberg Bay resident William Beale, who pleaded guilty to 18 644 charges of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.

Grobler was also the lead investigator in a rape case, dating back more that 30 years, against disgraced tennis pro Hewitt, 78.

Hewitt was sentenced to a six-year jail term in 2016 for the rape and sexual assault of three teenage girls, who were his tennis students, in the 1980s and 90s.

Grobler referred queries to national police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo.

Naidoo said he was not at liberty to provide any information at this stage. “We may provide information at a later date should the investigation warrant it.” Asked why the case had not been sent to Port Elizabeth, Naidoo failed to respond.

Jordaan denied the allegations in a statement issued by his attorney Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi last year.

Attempts to contact Ferguson and Jordaan were unsuccessful.