Police yesterday arrested a security guard who worked at the flat complex in Cape Town where the murdered former South African first lady, Marike de Klerk, lived at the time of her death.
Mrs de Klerk, wife of Mr Frederik W. de Klerk who served as president from 1989 to 1994, was found dead in her flat on Tuesday after being stabbed in the back and strangled. Her hairdresser had raised the alarm when she missed an appointment. Forensic investigators calculate that she was probably killed on Monday morning.
The security guard from Khayelitsha, a huge sprawling black settlement on the outskirts of Cape Town, has been detained for questioning by a special police team.
Additional information strengthened speculation that Mrs De Klerk was killed by someone she knew. There were no signs that her flat in the high security complex was broken into or robbed.
A former cabinet minister who used to live in the complex, was quoted yesterday as saying that it would be virtually impossible to get into the apartment without permission. However, Mr Dave Steward, spokesman for former President De Klerk, told reporters that the arrested man was not known to Mr De Klerk.
The former president, who is divorced from Mrs De Klerk, paid tribute to her "as a wonderful mother" and woman who had "served South Africa with great distinction and dedication".
The Afrikaans newspaper Beeld quoted an autopsy finding that she had been so violently strangled that the lingual bone and larynx in her throat were broken.