SA woman held for husband's mysterious death

2012-07-12 09:17

Marius Pienaar (Beeld)

Johannesburg - A South African woman has been arrested in Zambia after her husband died under suspicious circumstances.

Beeld reported that Marius Pienaar, 50, disappeared after he went fishing in Zambia. He and his wife, Estie, 33, had been visiting the Nina Fishing Camp in the Caprivi Strip.

Pienaar reportedly went missing on 26 June. His body was found three days later and his death appeared to have been caused by being hit with a blunt object on the back of the head.

His wife SMSed family members in Secunda, saying he had disappeared while she was making breakfast.

His shoes were found on the shore and his fishing rod was in the water. When his body was found there were no visible marks to indicate cause of death.

A South African government official in Zambia confirmed that Pienaar’s wife was being held in a prison in Lusaka.

The couple were married less than a year ago and Estie apparently described herself on Facebook as “out of control and at times sometimes difficult to handle”.

Pienaar had moved to Zambia to work at the Kunsanshi copper mine and apparently intended buying the fishing camp where he died.

Family and friends were shocked by his death and his adult daughter, Jeandre, posted a message on Facebook asking if anyone of her father’s friends had any more information about her father’s death.

“No one knows what is going on because we don’t hear from Estie,” was the message.

- News24