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Francois Petrus GREEFF

Francois Petrus GREEFF

Male 1843 - Yes, date unknown

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Generation: 1

  1. 1.  Francois Petrus GREEFFFrancois Petrus GREEFF was born on 13 Nov 1843 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 25 Dec 1843 in Jansenville, South Africa; and died.

    Notes:

    Hester Keevy told me that he was very short, about four foot six inches, and wore children's shoes. A photograph of him beside a daisyback chair confirms what she said. She added that he farmed on the farm Draaihoek, where he lived with his wife and her brother and his sister, who, the four of them, made two married couples. The second Couple were Casparus Johannes Lotter and Anna Maria Francina Greeff. I do not know whether they had separate houses, rooms, etc.

    Francois married Maria Gesina LOTTER on 21 Aug 1865 in Uitenhage, South Africa. Maria (daughter of Casparus Johannes LOTTER and Hester Adriana JOUBERT) was born on 22 Jun 1848 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 25 Dec 1848 in Jansenville, South Africa; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 2. Casparus Johannes GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 19 Aug 1876 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 17 Sep 1876 in Jansenville, South Africa; died about 1943 in Johannesburg, SA.


Generation: 2

  1. 2.  Casparus Johannes GREEFFCasparus Johannes GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (1.Francois1) was born on 19 Aug 1876 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 17 Sep 1876 in Jansenville, South Africa; died about 1943 in Johannesburg, SA.

    Family/Spouse: Maria Susanna Magdalena NELL. Maria (daughter of Louis NELL and Dorothea Magdalena VAN DEVENTER) was born on 3 Feb 1880; was christened on 23 May 1880 in Jansenville, South Africa; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 3. Dorothea Magdalena GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 13 Sep 1897 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Ladybrand.
    2. 4. Francois Petrus GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 2 Dec 1898 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 22 Jan 1899 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 17 Jan 1962 in Observatory, Cape Town.
    3. 5. Louis Botha GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 4 Apr 1901 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Krugersdorp.
    4. 6. Casparus Johannes GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 8 Jul 1902 in Jansenville, South Africa; and died.
    5. 7. Michiel Albertus GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 7 May 1904 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Port Elizabeth, SA..
    6. 8. Maria Gesina GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 17 Mar 1906 in Jansenville, South Africa; died after 1973 in Australia.
    7. 9. Izak Jacob GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 20 Oct 1907 in Jansenville, South Africa; died about 1964 in Boksburg.
    8. 10. Willem Gabriel GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 25 Jan 1910 in Jansenville, South Africa.
    9. 11. Hester Adriana GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 9 Jul 1912 in Jansenville, South Africa.
    10. 12. Christina GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 28 Jun 1915 in Jansenville, South Africa.
    11. 13. Esther GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 10 Oct 1917 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 30 Sep 1918 in Jansenville, South Africa; was buried in Jansenville, South Africa.
    12. 14. Viola GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 4 Dec 1918 in Jansenville, South Africa.
    13. 15. Ambrows GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 30 Dec 1919 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 8 Feb 1920 in Jansenville, South Africa; was buried in Jansenville, South Africa.
    14. 16. Eska GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 26 Jul 1921 in Jansenville, South Africa.


Generation: 3

  1. 3.  Dorothea Magdalena GREEFFDorothea Magdalena GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 13 Sep 1897 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Ladybrand.

    Family/Spouse: Hennie DU PLESSIS. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 17. Etienne DU PLESSIS  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 18. Morne DU PLESSIS  Descendancy chart to this point

  2. 4.  Francois Petrus GREEFFFrancois Petrus GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 2 Dec 1898 in Jansenville, South Africa; was christened on 22 Jan 1899 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 17 Jan 1962 in Observatory, Cape Town.

    Francois married Isabel CAMPBELL about 1925. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 19. Virginia GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 20. Ferdinand GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 13 Feb 1924 in South Africa; died in Feb 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA..

    Francois married Patricia BOYD on 16 Sep 1932 in Cape Town, South Africa., and was divorced. Patricia (daughter of John Percival BOYD and Johanna Maria MCGREGOR) was born on 30 Nov 1912 in Cape Town, South Africa.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 21. Marie Pamela Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 22. Michael Petrus Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point
    3. 23. Francois Pearson Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point
    4. 24. Casparus Johannes Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 13 Feb 1935 in Cape Town, SA.
    5. 25. Louis Botha Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 19 Apr 1938 in Cape Town, SA.
    6. 26. Izak Peter Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 22 Apr 1950 in SA.
    7. 27. Willem Paul Boyd GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 22 Apr 1950 in SA.

  3. 5.  Louis Botha GREEFFLouis Botha GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 4 Apr 1901 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Krugersdorp.

    Louis married Jacoba BRITZ in Vrystaat. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 6.  Casparus Johannes GREEFFCasparus Johannes GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 8 Jul 1902 in Jansenville, South Africa; and died.

    Notes:

    Caspar Greeff was Secretary for Justice and Head of the Diamond Commission and after that Head of the Housing Commission in the government of BJ Vorster.

    Casparus married Elizabeth JACOBS in Volksrust. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  5. 7.  Michiel Albertus GREEFFMichiel Albertus GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 7 May 1904 in Jansenville, South Africa; died in in Port Elizabeth, SA..

    Michiel married Emma JACOBS in Johannesburg, SA, and was divorced. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 28. Amy GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in Sep 1926.

  6. 8.  Maria Gesina GREEFFMaria Gesina GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 17 Mar 1906 in Jansenville, South Africa; died after 1973 in Australia.

    Maria married Mickey in Port Elizabeth, SA.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  7. 9.  Izak Jacob GREEFFIzak Jacob GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 20 Oct 1907 in Jansenville, South Africa; died about 1964 in Boksburg.

    Izak married Zirkia in Boksburg. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 10.  Willem Gabriel GREEFFWillem Gabriel GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 25 Jan 1910 in Jansenville, South Africa.

    Willem married Dirkie Aletta CONRADIE in 1936 in Boksburg. Dirkie died in 1962. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 29. Casparus Johannes GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 30. Marie GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point

    Willem married Johanna Hendrina VAN ROOYEN in 1965. Johanna was born on 6 Jun 1911. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  9. 11.  Hester Adriana GREEFFHester Adriana GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 9 Jul 1912 in Jansenville, South Africa.

    Hester married BRUYNS in PE or Jhb. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 31. Claude BRUYNS  Descendancy chart to this point

  10. 12.  Christina GREEFFChristina GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 28 Jun 1915 in Jansenville, South Africa.

    Family/Spouse: POTTER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Christina married MERRIDEW in Florida, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 32. Steve MERRIDEW  Descendancy chart to this point

  11. 13.  Esther GREEFFEsther GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 10 Oct 1917 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 30 Sep 1918 in Jansenville, South Africa; was buried in Jansenville, South Africa.

  12. 14.  Viola GREEFFViola GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 4 Dec 1918 in Jansenville, South Africa.

    Viola married Hendrik ASPELING in Krugersdorp. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 33. Eric ASPELING  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 34. Yvonne ASPELING  Descendancy chart to this point
    3. 35. Carol ASPELING  Descendancy chart to this point

  13. 15.  Ambrows GREEFFAmbrows GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 30 Dec 1919 in Jansenville, South Africa; died on 8 Feb 1920 in Jansenville, South Africa; was buried in Jansenville, South Africa.

  14. 16.  Eska GREEFFEska GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 26 Jul 1921 in Jansenville, South Africa.

    Notes:

    Alive in 1989 in Hibberdene, SA.

    Eska married Allan LOXTON in Boksburg. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]



Generation: 4

  1. 17.  Etienne DU PLESSISEtienne DU PLESSIS Descendancy chart to this point (3.Dorothea3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  2. 18.  Morne DU PLESSISMorne DU PLESSIS Descendancy chart to this point (3.Dorothea3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  3. 19.  Virginia GREEFFVirginia GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

    Family/Spouse: Ramiss VEHBI. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 20.  Ferdinand GREEFFFerdinand GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 13 Feb 1924 in South Africa; died in Feb 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA..

    Notes:

    Social Security Death Index
    about Ferdinand Greeff
    Name: Ferdinand Greeff SSN: 086-22-7151 Last Residence: 21206 Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, United States of America Born: 13 Feb 1924 Last Benefit: 21206 Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, United States of America Died: Feb 1987 State (Year) SSN issued: New York (Before 1951 ) Source Citation: Number: 086-22-7151;Issue State: New York;Issue Date: Before 1951.
    Source Information:
    Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
    Source: www.Ancestry.com

    Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 36. Elizabeth GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in in USA.
    2. 37. Mark GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in in USA.
    3. 38. Ferdinand (Jerry) GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in 1952 in USA.
    4. 39. Victoria GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in 1954 in USA.

    Ferdinand married Terralea Grace ABRAHAMSE in 1950 in USA. Terralea died on 17 Apr 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 36. Elizabeth GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in in USA.
    2. 37. Mark GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in in USA.
    3. 38. Ferdinand (Jerry) GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in 1952 in USA.
    4. 39. Victoria GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born in 1954 in USA.

  5. 21.  Marie Pamela Boyd GREEFFMarie Pamela Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  6. 22.  Michael Petrus Boyd GREEFFMichael Petrus Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  7. 23.  Francois Pearson Boyd GREEFFFrancois Pearson Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

    Francois married Yvonne Amy (Yve) VAN ZYL [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 40. Antoinette Vonne' GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 24 Apr 1958 in Johannesburg, SA.
    2. 41. Francois Andre GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 19 May 1959 in Klerksdorp, South Africa..
    3. 42. Leon Sebastian GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 15 Sep 1962 in Carnarvon, SA.
    4. 43. Yvette Yoland GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 5 Jan 1964 in Carnarvon, SA.
    5. 44. Yve Charnette GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 25 Nov 1974 in The Pines, Worcester, SA.

    Francois married Yvonne HYMAN [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 24.  Casparus Johannes Boyd GREEFFCasparus Johannes Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 13 Feb 1935 in Cape Town, SA.

    Family/Spouse: Marlene Juliana VAN DER VYVER. Marlene was born on 9 Oct 1933. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 45. Caspar Edmund GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 29 Jan 1959 in Johannesburg, SA.
    2. 46. Karen GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 24 Jun 1960 in Johannesburg, SA.
    3. 47. Michele GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 5 Mar 1962 in Johannesburg, SA.

    Family/Spouse: Marlene Juliana VAN DER VYVER. Marlene was born on 9 Oct 1933. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Family/Spouse: Elizabeth VAN DER MERWE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  9. 25.  Louis Botha Boyd GREEFFLouis Botha Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 19 Apr 1938 in Cape Town, SA.

  10. 26.  Izak Peter Boyd GREEFFIzak Peter Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 22 Apr 1950 in SA.

    Family/Spouse: Margaretha ESTERHUIZEN. Margaretha was born on 2 Sep 1952. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. 48. Mari-Louise GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 10 Apr 1980.
    2. 49. Jacobus GREEFF  Descendancy chart to this point was born on 2 Sep 1982 in SA.

  11. 27.  Willem Paul Boyd GREEFFWillem Paul Boyd GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (4.Francois3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born on 22 Apr 1950 in SA.

  12. 28.  Amy GREEFFAmy GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (7.Michiel3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1) was born in Sep 1926.

    Notes:

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Caspar Greeff" >
    To: "Francois Greeff" >
    Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 10:52 AM
    Subject: Re: more data at Greeff.info
    > HI Francois, > You have been a very busy man and have achieved wonders. > Regarding the top line; why not "The genealogical website of the Greeff clan". > I will soon be sending you the pictures that you requested. It will be easier to > make copies and send them by snailmail. What is your postal address? > My granddaughter Taryn is getting engaged this weekend and Sarah is getting > married in September. > Your father, Michael and I will be going to Amy's (my uncle Mike's daughter) > 80th birthday party on the 20th September. She is very interested in the Greeff > family history. She has three children, a son in the USA, another in Australia > and a daughter in Cape Town. They have all done very well in life. > Regards, > Caspar
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Caspar Greeff" >
    To: "Francois Greeff" >
    Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 8:38 AM
    Subject: Re: John Percival Boyd
    > Hi Francois, > Edna and Tossie are both dead and Alan Rose is somewhere in the USA. Ronald > Sanderson is at Stellenbosch University. > I am certain the Alan and Ronald will not be able to help you. If my Grandmother > had told anyone about my Grandfather it would have been my mother and she told > us nothing about him. We were older than Alan and Ronald and all my Grannie > told us was that my Grandfather was a soldier. They were too young to have been > told anything of value to you. > Amy's party was great. Your father, Louis and Michael and their partners also > attended. Amy is full of life and vigour. She said that my father once placed > the first three horses correctly in a competition and on the strength of this > resigned his job. When he came to collect his winnings the queue stretched > round the block. > Louis has been teetotal for over a year and looks great. He has a small pigtail > tied with a ribbon. He intends buying a motorcycle. > Regards, > Caspar


  13. 29.  Casparus Johannes GREEFFCasparus Johannes GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (10.Willem3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

    Notes:

    The Sunday Times, Cape Town, Sunday 14 Mar 2004

    A Family Affair
    There's a skeleton in every family cupboard. Caspar Greeff dusts off his and goes to jail to visit a cousin and a namesake

    #I met Cousin Caz one summery Sunday inside Baviaanspoort Prison, where he is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. His grey hair was neatly combed, his black shoes had been painstakingly polished and his handsome face was smooth; but he was a ruined man, one who had fallen a long, long way.
    Before his fall Cousin Caz was a dentist in Kempton Park. He had a beautiful wife and a thriving practice and a big house with an indoor/outdoor swimming pool and three Mercedes-Benzes in the garage.
    Now he shares a cell with 15 other men. When I met him he wore an orange jumpsuit with the word "PRISONER" written on it in bold black circles. He ate slap chips out of a Tupperware container, and he sucked XXX mints, which made his breath sweet as he told me of the terrible hand that fate had dealt him - he was, he said, an innocent man incarcerated for a crime he never committed.
    Cousin Caz is my second cousin, Casper Greeff. He is family with everything that the word implies - handwritten names in the front of a big Bible, a twisted tree, the voices in your dreams, the DNA in your cells. Blood. Family is reminiscences on Christmas day, fading photos in a shoebox, all those stories about all those characters.
    And boy, we had some characters in our family. Aunty Lorraine wore a negligee in the daytime and had the names of her 10 husbands tattooed above her pubic hair. She borrowed my mother's wedding dress for each of her marriages and was buried in it too. My grandfather invented a preparation called Wonderlike Groen Salf" ("Wonderful Green Ointment"), which was a mixture of Vaseline and wintergreen. He invented another preparation called Wonderlike Geel Salf ("Wonderful Yellow Ointment"), a mixture of petroleum jelly and sulphur.
    Oupa Sakkie was a bus conductor who sunbathed naked at Graaff's Pool in Sea Point, where jockeys told him which races would be rigged. Ouma wore brown slippers and kept beribboned Maltese poodles and was a nurse at an asylum.
    Uncle Paul held the South African pole-sitting record, Uncle Louis is a womaniser who once owned the southernmost fish-and-chips shop in Africa. Cousin Francois lived rough on the pavements of London and wrote a book on how to solve cryptic crossword puzzles.
    And then there was Cousin Caz (full name Casparus Johannes Greeff, the same handed-down family name as my father's) who had - four judges concurred - hired a handyman to murder his wife. He then employed the famous detective Slang van Zyl to solve the crime. And solve it Slang did, leading police to the dentist.
    Cousin Caz hired Van Zyl barely a year after the tough-guy sleuth had solved a similar case, that of the psychiatrist Omar Sabadia, who paid one of his former patients to murder his wife.
    Hiring Slang van Zyl was, I thought, either utterly audacious, criminally stupid, or a measure taken by a desperate and innocent man.
    I wanted to meet my second cousin and namesake, find out a bit about him, see whether there was anything of him in me, and that's why I was in Pretoria recently, speaking to Casper Greeff's sister Marie about family matters.
    Marie is plump with a lived-in face and a halo of grey hair. She has the voice of a life-long smoker and suffers from asthma. "I've got this little pump that I use for my asthma," she said. "I'm lucky - I get five pompies every day." She laughed.
    She was drinking Autumn Harvest crackling wine and on the table next to her glass was a pile of thrillers from the library and some filled-in crossword puzzles.
    I told Marie that my father was addicted to crossword puzzles, and that my cousin had written a book on how to solve them. "I do love my crosswords," she said. "And Casper has become quite good at them too."
    "I've never met Casper," I said, "but my father visited him in Kempton Park a few times. He told me that Casper had a parrot which used to mimic the sound of the phone ringing. Apparently it was so good you never knew whether it was the phone ringing or the parrot."
    "Oh, that was Coco," said Marie. "Later he went to my father - your great-uncle Willie - who taught him to say 'Heil Hitler, jou stuk stront' [you piece of shit]. He also greeted the maid, Nomsa. ' Sawubon a,' he said whenever he saw her. ' Sawubona. '
    "I remember your father's father," she went on. "He used to have a teapot under the table, so that he could carry on drinking and didn't have to get up to go to the loo." (When I told my father about this, he said, "No, it wasn't a teapot, it was a bucket. And he used to make me empty it.")
    But Marie really wanted to talk about her younger brother - he is 56, she is 65 - in whose innocence she passionately believes. "Casper was such a gentle person," she said. "He's not a killer. He's more a lover."
    Casper Greeff was "an excellent, excellent dentist" and an extremely handsome man, said Marie. One of his woman patients told her, she laughed, "that when Casper said, 'open wide', she didn't know whether to open her mouth or her legs!"
    These days Greeff is not allowed to practise dentistry, but he is studying for his MA in Biblical Archaeology at Baviaanspoort Prison, where he is the " star pupil".
    We talked about the trial and discussed Greeff's late wife Estelle, whose throat was hacked open with an Okapi knife so blunt that she begged the killer, " maak gou, maak gou [hurry up, hurry up]".
    I said I was going to visit Slang van Zyl the next day. " Die bliksem [The bastard]!" Marie exclaimed. She gave me some documents relating to her brother's court case - Judge Johan Els's 131-page judgment, the grounds for leave to appeal, and the Appeal Court judgment. We agreed to meet at 7.45 that Sunday morning, when she would take me to visit Casper Greeff, my grandfather's brother's son.
    That night I read the documents.
    The murder was pretty straightforward, but Greeff's involvement was not cut and dried.
    On Monday, November 8 1999, Estelle Greeff let two men into her home - the handyman Elliot Masango and his young accomplice Christopher Njeje. Masango, who had worked for Casper Greeff for several years, strangled Estelle. Thinking she was dead, he and Njeje put her body in the boot of her champagne-coloured Mercedes-Benz and drove to the veld near Cullinan, where they opened the boot.
    Estelle was still alive. They hauled her out of the boot and Njeje slit her throat. They dumped the body and drove off.
    Two days later Greeff hired Slang van Zyl to investigate what was then still the disappearance of his wife. It took Van Zyl just two days to figure out that Masango and Njeje had murdered Estelle Greeff, and the two were arrested on Sunday November 14. Masango took police to the body and said Greeff had hired him to murder his wife, with whom he had been having marital problems. Greeff was then arrested - but only after he insisted on getting "quiet time" to say a prayer and read the Bible.
    Greeff denied hiring Masango - who had been sentenced to life imprisonment at a separate trial - to kill his wife, or in any way discussing her murder with him. However, Judge Els convicted the dentist and Njeje of murder. On February 23 2001, he sentenced them both to life imprisonment.
    The day after reading the documents, I drove down Ontdekkers Road to a Roodepoort house where Slang van Zyl has his detective agency, Incom.
    The private eye spent some time in the Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB), the apartheid-era "dirty tricks" department of the defence force. The CCB has been implicated in a number of murders. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, "the objective of the CCB was 'the maximal disruption of the enemy'." A CCB planning document described disruption as having five dimensions - "death, infiltration, bribery, compromise or blackmail, and destruction".
    But when I met Slang van Zyl he showed no signs of being an agent of "disruption" - he seemed more like a Hollywood detective. Tall and well-groomed, with a moustache, dark hair and perfect teeth, he shook my hand and said: "You almost look the same [as Casper Greeff]."
    His impenetrable brown eyes held mine as he told me about the case.
    "Casper is," he said, "not a criminal. He's a gentle, educated and I would say hardworking, ordinary South African citizen. It's obvious that he and his belated wife had marital problems... and I think that what his wife had done to him he couldn't make peace with. And in a moment of weakness he approached a worker and between the two of them they conspired to have her kidnapped and killed.
    "H e's not the first guy and he's not going to be the last guy to think that the only and best solution will be actually to get rid of [his wife]."
    "Did Casper Greeff pay you for catching him?"
    "No. He never paid me and I don't expect him to pay me. My fee at that moment in time would have amounted to about R4 000. But it would have been to a certain extent unprofessional of me to have presented him with an invoice."
    Van Zyl talked about his first meeting with Greeff. "The body language was wrong and he was to a certain extent uneasy, but he was quite confident.
    "We sat down in his little pub in the house and he poured himself a whisky or a brandy and he wanted to know if I wanted one. I said to him, 'a glass of Coke'. He said to me: 'Listen, I've had lots of problems with my wife in the past. If it was like five years ago somebody could have blamed me.' But he said, 'Now we've sorted things out, we're happy and I just want to tell you I was not involved.' To me that rang an alarm bell immediately.
    "You do get a lot of family murders in South Africa. Perhaps it's because they think it's the easy way out, it's perhaps from a financial point of view the cheaper way out. But at the end of the day it's a lot more expensive."
    I told Van Zyl I was visiting Greeff in prison that Sunday and he said: "When you see him tell him I give my regards - not from a sympathetic point of view, I'm not arrogant - but I think that people make mistakes in life. I've made mistakes in my life and I'm just glad that I was given a second chance. Casper Greeff is not one of the fortunate ones, but I do hope that he will be given an opportunity at some stage to show to himself and prove to whoever still believes in him that he can be of value to his family and society."
    That Sunday I woke up at six and drove along empty highways to Marie's flat. We picked up her friend Amanda, who was also visiting someone in Baviaanspoort - a boyfriend she met as a penpal while he was in jail.
    "What's Amanda's boyfriend in for?" I asked Marie, when we stopped at a shop so Amanda could buy a You magazine.
    "He's accused of killing his wife."
    "And what's he convicted of?"
    "Killing his wife. But he's innocent. Everyone is innocent there."
    Baviaanspoort Prison is opposite a lush green mealie field, on the way to Cullinan, not far from where Estelle Greeff's body was dumped.
    At the prison entrance, next to a trickling water feature, we waited to be searched. Ahead of us in the queue was another of Marie's friends, a pretty young woman with a pixie-like face.
    "That's Manya. She's here to see Janu," said Marie.
    "Who?"
    "Janu Nortjé. He killed an old Dutchman and chopped his body up, then put the parts in suitcases and threw them out of a train.
    "Janu is very charming and very good-looking, but he's a psychopath. He's one of the few guilty ones - he admitted the murder and he's got absolutely no remorse."
    "How did Manya meet him?"
    "Janu injured his knee, and she was his physiotherapist in the prison hospital."
    We were searched, then we climbed in a minibus which took us through the prison grounds. We drove past brick buildings which were enclosed behind rolls of barbed wire and electric fences. Clothing hung from iron bars. We stopped near a red, H-shaped building - the maximum security section.
    All the brown-uniformed Correctional Services personnel I saw were sucking lollipops. We sat on metal benches in a waiting room with a slasto floor. There was the rustling of plastic bags - everyone had brought something for the prisoner they were visiting. Keys jingled and a door opened.
    "Casper Greeff." The warder summoned me and Marie and we entered the visitors' section. The iron door clanged shut.
    In the room were many prisoners wearing orange jumpsuits. One of them approached me and Marie. It was Casper Greeff - a middle-aged, grey-haired man with rosy cheeks and hairless arms.
    He smiled and shook my hand. We sat down and he said, "I want to bring back some honour to my name and to the Greeff name."
    He spent an hour and a half trying to convince me of his innocence, taking me through the court case, attempting to refute the evidence against him.
    "The stuff that happened to me is so unreal and so untrue," he said. "There's absolutely no proof of my involvement in Estelle's murder. No! No! There's one single witness [Elliot Masango] against me, and we've got at least 93 points where he was untruthful."
    The room was filled with the sound of prisoners and visitors talking. Some of the prisoners were passionately embracing their girlfriends.
    Marie was talking to Janu Nortjé, and she pointed at me. The killer, who looked like a rockabilly star, with his tall slender frame and little beard and sparkling teeth, winked at me.
    I took a bite of the sausage roll that Marie had bought me, and turned back to Greeff.
    "What about the appeal? You lost your appeal."
    "My leave to appeal was granted in record time. Then it went back to the same building where the trial was, where all the judges are, where they all drink tea together. I'm not saying they're crooked, but hell!
    "The Scorpions set me up," said Greeff. "I was their very first case ever, and they would look bad if I was acquitted."
    "Why did you hire Slang?"
    "A woman called me. She was supposed to be at my partner Dr Strauss at the time he heard of my wife's disappearance. This woman phoned me and told me how wonderful Slang was and that he would find my wife.
    "Dr Strauss later told me he knew nothing about this woman."
    My second cousin sat close to me, his blue eyes peering steadily into mine, and he touched my knee whenever he wanted to emphasise a point.
    "There's not one fact in this whole thing. Whatever Elliot said was accepted. But he's the liar, he was the lying bastard all along. He ran to the Scorpions trying to get everything he could."
    Greeff made various allegations about the judge, about his wife, about the legal system. He talked about points of evidence.
    "Do you know about the pubic hair they found in Estelle's panties? They know it's not my hair, it's not her hair, it's not the other two guys' hair. Why did the police not investigate this further? Why was it never mentioned in court?
    "People win appeals on one point, like the colour of the shirt they were wearing. I've got a thousand things, but they're keeping me here. If they now let me go they will look like fools."
    Our time was nearly up, and Greeff gave me some papers, 31 handwritten pages. Most dealt with the trial and attempted to prove his innocence.
    A few pages dealt with his state of mind: "There's never a single day that I lose hope that I will get out of jail. The day I lose hope, I will lose my purpose in life."
    He told me again that he wanted me to help "restore some honour to my name and to our family name. It's a great family and it's a great name.
    "I'm not guilty - understand. Not, never have been, never will be."
    I looked hard then at Casper Greeff, my second cousin, whom I had met in such strange circumstances. I realised that I was a straw at which he was clutching. Is he innocent? Is he guilty? I don't know.
    I said goodbye, and walked out into the sunlight. The grass was a brilliant green, and birds were singing. A breeze blew in the smell of pigshit from the prison farm. Someone was playing a saxophone; it sounded flat and off-key.
    "What did you say to Janu when he winked at me?" I asked Marie.
    "I said you're Casper's cousin from Cape Town."
    "Is Janu friends with Casper?"
    "Oh ja. They do crossword puzzles together."
    Marie's friend Amanda was beaming when we met her at the prison entrance.
    "Look," she said, and showed us a Valentine's Day card that her boyfriend had given her. It was the biggest Valentine's Day card I had ever seen - the size of a small child.
    A few days later I was back in Cape Town and told my father about my experiences in Pretoria.
    "Oh well," he said. "I'm glad you met some of the family."


  14. 30.  Marie GREEFFMarie GREEFF Descendancy chart to this point (10.Willem3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  15. 31.  Claude BRUYNSClaude BRUYNS Descendancy chart to this point (11.Hester3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  16. 32.  Steve MERRIDEWSteve MERRIDEW Descendancy chart to this point (12.Christina3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

    Notes:

    gers, bij d h:r Elsevier
    7 leedige leggers bij Dirk Coetsé
    2 leedige leggers bij Claes van de Westhuijsen
    3 coopere tregters
    3 halve leggers balije
    1 parsbak met sijn toebehooren
    1 houte balije tregter
    1/2 aam met wat wijn
    32 p:s planken
    2 p:s root ebbenhoute planken
    2 p:s root ebbenhoute ribben
    2 heevers
    1 ijsere slagroeij
    1 partij wagemakershout
    1 partij oude duijgen
    1 partij oude ijsere hoepels
    1 partij touwwerk
    8 staven ijser
    1 cist met sout
    16 beesten huijden
    1 graef
    de stellingbalken
    1 partij pompoenen
    1 treksaegh

    In de smitswinkel
    1 blaesbalk
    1 aambeelt
    1 speerhaek
    1 schroef
    1 radstaek
    1 schroefbijtel
    3 hamers
    11 deurslagh
    2 heele kettingh
    5 stucken kettingh
    6 tangen
    1 nijptangh
    2 oude scheenen
    2 stucken 3/4 ijser
    1 partij oud ijser

    In 't afdakje
    2 paerdetuijgen onbequaem
    2 oude wagen
    2 oude ploegwielen
    wat sout
    1 partij wagemakershout
    1 oude cadel
    1 oude tafeltie

    In 't slavenhuijs
    5 oude graven
    3 oude mistschoppen
    3 coorn vorken
    2 mist vorken
    1 mist haek
    1 pik
    1 oude mooker

    In 't coornhuijs
    36 1/4 mudden tarw
    1 coornharp
    1/2 scheepel
    4 coornschoppen
    4 coornharken

    In 't stookhuijs
    1 coopere disteleerkeetel en helm
    1 coel vat
    1 oude zeegen
    3 deuren
    2 trappen
    1 leggers balij
    1 oud vad
    3 teerputsen
    1 plank

    In 't varkenshok
    1 groot vierkantblok
    1 stam van een boom
    1 partij wagemakershout
    1 paerde crib
    2 oude burries
    1 partij nieuw ried
    1 varkens vat
    2 ploegen
    2 eggen met ijsere tanden
    4 ossewagens
    1 paerdewagen
    4 paerdetuijgen

    In de schuijr
    8 ribben
    8 gordings
    2 hoopen sparren
    7 vierkante balken
    26 p:s ronthout
    4 wielen
    9 kettings

    Op de werf
    6 oude wielen
    2 wagenkettings bij de wagens
    759 schapen
    238 beesten soo ossen, coeijen als calveren

    Op de groote post
    1 slaven jongen genaemt Pieter
    1 slaven jongen genaemt Fortuijn
    1 slaven Arend
    1 slaven Jan
    1 slaven Thomasz
    1 slaven Schipio
    1 slaven Markus
    1 slaven klijne Sijmon
    1 slaven Januarij
    1 slaven Coridon
    1 slavin genaemt Diana
    1 slavin genaemt Christina
    1 slaven genaemt Hendrik
    1 slaven genaemt Hanibal
    1 slaven genaemt Philip
    1 slaven genaemt Valentijn
    1 slaven genaemt Silvester
    1 slaven genaemt Antonij

    Op de post aen de Berg Rivier
    1 jongen genaemt Titus

    Aan de 24 Rivieren
    1 jongen Claes genaemt
    1 jongen Cupido
    1 jongen Augustijn
    1 jongen Alexander
    1 jongen Andries

    1 plaets geleegen in de Bottelerij groot 30 morgen volgens erfbrief van den 26 Septb:r 1704
    1 plaets geleegen aen Stellenbosch groot 38 morgen 130 quadraet roeden volgens erfbrief van den 29 Februarij 1692
    1 plaets groot 60 morgen 120 roeden zeggende aen Stellenbosch volgens erfbrief van den 26 Septb:r 1704
    aan contanten in den boedel bevonden in verschijde spetien ƒ1197
    hier van uijtgegeeven aen de de knegt Barent Wantsink over 5 maenden verdient loon volgens quit:e ƒ62
    aan Claes Greef om t huijshouden waer te neemen 30
    92
    blijvende bij restant ƒ1055

    Op de post aen de Bergh Rivier
    1164 schapen
    2 ijsere potten
    2 water emmers
    1 ijsere haertkettingh
    1 ijsere lamp
    1 ijsere vork
    Aldus geinventariseert aan Stellenbosch en aan de Berg Rivier op de plaetsen van Matthijs Greef d' oude voornt: den 12 en 16 Julij 1712.
    N: van den Heuvel, Johannes Heufke
    Mij present: A: v: Kervel, Secret:s
    ________________________________________
    Source: http://databases.tanap.net/mooc/


  17. 33.  Eric ASPELINGEric ASPELING Descendancy chart to this point (14.Viola3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  18. 34.  Yvonne ASPELINGYvonne ASPELING Descendancy chart to this point (14.Viola3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)

  19. 35.  Carol ASPELINGCarol ASPELING Descendancy chart to this point (14.Viola3, 2.Casparus2, 1.Francois1)


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