Media expert found murdered

2009-06-01 07:21

Jackie Pienaar-Brink

Stellenbosch - The burnt body of a Johannesburg-based consumer expert, who was well-known in the media world, was found in Faure over the weekend.

Dr Klaas Jonkheid, 48, presumably died of a head injury, said Stellenbosch police spokesperson René Matthee. There are indications that he had been set alight after his death.

Jonkheid arrived in the Western Cape on Wednesday to serve as a judge at a conference of the Southern African Marketing Research Society at Spier.

According to Matthee, Jonkheid left Spier at about 15:00 on Friday and was due to return at 19:00 for a farewell dinner, but never showed up. He didn’t arrive for his flight back to Johannesburg at 08:00 on Saturday either.

Early on Saturday afternoon, the police were informed that the body of a man had been found in the bushes at St. Paul’s church in Faure. The description matched that of Jonkheid, who by then had been reported as missing by his wife. He was positively identified by forensic experts.

”It’s a huge, huge shock, said Henry Jeffreys, editor of Die Burger. “He’s very well-known in the media world, and he did research for Media24 products. He was without a doubt at the top-end of his field.”

Jonkheid did research for the recent redesign of Die Burger. He had also recently concluded a country-wide study about the coloured market for the company.

- Die Burger