Cape Town's investigations unit head Talmakkies suspended over ‘shocking’ behaviour saga linked to son’s murder case

26 Nov 2023

Last week, Daily Maverick reported that a former cop, who heads the City of Cape Town’s Special Investigations Unit, was found to have acted inappropriately towards a magistrate overseeing his son’s murder case. He has now been suspended.

The City of Cape Town’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) head, Reynold Talmakkies, has been suspended.

This comes after Daily Maverick reported on Wednesday 22 November that a Western Cape High Court judgment, delivered the day before, found he had acted inappropriately towards a magistrate who was presiding over a murder case in which his son, David, is an accused.

The magistrate had recused herself because Talmakkies approached her between proceedings in that case, which she effectively felt could be viewed as an attempt to have influenced her.

Read more in Daily Maverick: City of Cape Town investigator acted ‘inappropriately and shockingly’ in son’s murder case, court finds

However, the high court set aside her recusal, finding she had done nothing wrong and that Talmakkies’s actions equated to a security breach.

On Wednesday last week, when Daily Maverick asked if it was aware of the judgment and whether anything would happen to Talmakkies because of it, the City of Cape Town said it “is currently considering its options”.

Suspended

Barely two days later, by Friday, 24 November, that had changed.

The City of Cape Town told Daily Maverick: “The City can confirm that Mr Talmakkies has been suspended.

“Due process will now be followed, in line with the City’s policies and procedures, and it would be premature to speculate on the outcome of these processes.”

It was therefore not yet clear if any further action would be taken against Talmakkies.

Daily Maverick tried to obtain comment from him on Wednesday, a day after the judgment that references him was delivered, but he did not respond.

The judgment does not go into Talmakkies’s version of events.

He is a former South African Police Service officer who subsequently became part of the City of Cape Town’s safety and security directorate.

Fraud and another arrest

It is not the first time Talmakkies has been in hot water.

More than two years ago, in April 2021, Daily Maverick reported that he was accused of fraud in a case, stemming from 2016, that involved alleged docket tweaking linked to a police station in Mpumalanga.

Read more in Daily Maverick: City of Cape Town’s special investigations head charged in cop fraud case

Talmakkies had pleaded not guilty in that matter.

He was arrested in a separate case in December 2021 – this related to tender fraud involving hundreds of millions of rands.

Despite those criminal cases, the City of Cape Town had not suspended him.

The high court judgment delivered on 22 November this year, which has resulted in his suspension, marked the third criminal case he has surfaced in.

Murder accused son

It dealt with a murder and Talmakkies’s son David is one of two accused in it.

That matter stems from an attack in December 2020 when a man named Chad du Plessis was fatally stabbed outside a relative’s home in Strandfontein.

The heightened vigilance by the magistrate and the openness with which she handled the situation is commendable.

The murder case was being heard in Mitchells Plain and a regional court magistrate had been overseeing it.

But a day after the trial started in September 2022, the magistrate made an announcement to those present when proceedings were meant to continue.

Approached from behind

According to the Western Cape High Court judgment relating to that, the magistrate said that when leaving the courtroom after the previous day’s proceedings, a man approached her from behind as she was walking to a garage where her car was parked.

He had looked familiar to her.

“It appeared that gentleman was one of the members of the public that was here in court…

“He tried informing me… that he use[d] to work with us here in this court as a senior police officer,” the magistrate said.

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She added: “He had little conversation with me trying to tell me how he has since advanced in his career. That he is now heading a certain section in the Department of Police, but outside Cape Town.

“For fear of appearing rude, I restrained myself from asking who exactly he was… He told me that he was Mr Tamakies [sic]. And he told me accused 2 [in the matter] that I am now presiding over… is his son.”

The magistrate cut Talmakkies off.

In the murder case she was presiding over, she told the court in September 2022 that because of what had happened she was recusing herself from the matter.

‘Serious security breach’

However, the Western Cape High Court ruled last week that her decision should be reviewed and set aside.

“The magistrate found herself in a very difficult position which was not created by her,” it said.

“The heightened vigilance by the magistrate and the openness with which she handled the situation is commendable.

“The magistrate played open cards with everyone, by laying bare and revealing what the conversation with the person she spoke to was about.”

According to the judgment, Talmakkies’s actions, as outlined by the magistrate, amounted to a security breach.

“I would be remiss if I did not mention that what happened here suggests a serious breach of security,” it said.

“An unauthorised member of the public was able to easily access a magistrate.”

The judgment added: “It is worth bearing in mind that, though what the gentleman in question did was clearly highly inappropriate and shocking, particularly if one considers that he also identified himself as a father to one of the accused in the trial, the conversation did not taint the impartiality of the magistrate.” DM

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South Africa

Suspended

Fraud and another arrest

Murder accused son

Approached from behind

‘Serious security breach’