Publications
Partners
Pretoria - Manda Reyneke, who apparently conspired to have the Blue Bulls rugby player Deon Helberg murdered, apparently regularly attacked his character in emails to a rugby writer at Sport24.
At the same time that the 21-year-old Helberg was allegedly harassed by the 47-year-old doctor's wife from Silver Lakes in Pretoria, his contract with the Blue Bulls Company (BBC) was not renewed.
This was despite him this year playing Super 14 rugby for the Bulls.
In February, Reyneke wrote an email saying that Helberg showed character on the field but that his character off the field left much to be desired.
Reyneke claimed that Helberg's personal life would make "Joost van der Westhuizen's scandals look like Sunday school party", but didn't elaborate.
In a later email, she also mentioned that Helberg's career had come to a halt and that he was now without a contract "after playing for the Sevens, Super 14 and Vodacom".
Reyneke was on Thursday arrested by the police's Hawks investigations unit after she allegedly hired two Nigerians to kill Helberg.
She spent the weekend in police custody at the Moot police station and will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, amongst others.
Helberg started the year as a Springbok Sevens player and was one of the star players in the Blue Bulls team in this year's Vodacom Cup, which was won by the team when they beat the Free State in the final.
He was also chosen for the Bulls match against the Stormers at Newlands when coach Frans Ludeke let several of his key players rest in view of the team's semi-final match the following weekend.
Six months later, however, he was without a contract as neither the Bulls nor the Blue Bulls remained convinced of his abilities.
The BBC high performance manager, Ian Schwartz, said however, that Helberg's personal life did not play a role in their decision not to offer him another contract.
According to Schwartz, it was instead the arrival of the Springbok wing Bjorn Basson which influenced any decision about Helberg's future.
"The coaching team didn't know of those matters and only heard about it for the first time at the end of last week."
Only one or two BBC staff members had background knowledge about Helberg's personal life.
It therefore had no influence on the coaches' decision about next year's group," said Schwartz.
Helberg was one of five players in the Bulls U21 group to whom senior contracts were not offered.
At the same time that the 21-year-old Helberg was allegedly harassed by the 47-year-old doctor's wife from Silver Lakes in Pretoria, his contract with the Blue Bulls Company (BBC) was not renewed.
This was despite him this year playing Super 14 rugby for the Bulls.
In February, Reyneke wrote an email saying that Helberg showed character on the field but that his character off the field left much to be desired.
Reyneke claimed that Helberg's personal life would make "Joost van der Westhuizen's scandals look like Sunday school party", but didn't elaborate.
In a later email, she also mentioned that Helberg's career had come to a halt and that he was now without a contract "after playing for the Sevens, Super 14 and Vodacom".
Reyneke was on Thursday arrested by the police's Hawks investigations unit after she allegedly hired two Nigerians to kill Helberg.
She spent the weekend in police custody at the Moot police station and will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, amongst others.
Helberg started the year as a Springbok Sevens player and was one of the star players in the Blue Bulls team in this year's Vodacom Cup, which was won by the team when they beat the Free State in the final.
He was also chosen for the Bulls match against the Stormers at Newlands when coach Frans Ludeke let several of his key players rest in view of the team's semi-final match the following weekend.
Six months later, however, he was without a contract as neither the Bulls nor the Blue Bulls remained convinced of his abilities.
The BBC high performance manager, Ian Schwartz, said however, that Helberg's personal life did not play a role in their decision not to offer him another contract.
According to Schwartz, it was instead the arrival of the Springbok wing Bjorn Basson which influenced any decision about Helberg's future.
"The coaching team didn't know of those matters and only heard about it for the first time at the end of last week."
Only one or two BBC staff members had background knowledge about Helberg's personal life.
It therefore had no influence on the coaches' decision about next year's group," said Schwartz.
Helberg was one of five players in the Bulls U21 group to whom senior contracts were not offered.
