Pieter Dijzel, who is just under 2m tall, attempted to climb into a flat on the 16th floor from the floor above when he slipped.

A murder suspect who tried to evade arrest, stabbed a Brighton Beach detective before losing his footing and falling to his death down 16 storeys of an Amanzimtoti block of flats.

Captain Brad Varley, reacted swiftly after receiving information Pieter Dijzel, wanted for a murder and attempted murder in Hillcrest in May 2020, was hiding out in a flat in Beach Road in Amanzimtoti.

Varley made his way to the flat with two local rapid response officers on Saturday at about 18:00. Dijzel was inside a flat on the 17th floor when police gained entry and informed him that he was under arrest for murder.

Varley says he resisted arrest and got violent. A struggle ensued between the responding officers and Dijzel, who is believed to be just under two metres in height. Fighting off all three responding officers, Dijzel escaped into the bedroom, where he locked himself in.

“Both the men with me could not cuff him, that’s how strong he was. I fought him all the way to the bedroom. We called radio control for assistance. While waiting, I tried to talk to him through the bedroom door to give himself up. There was no reply.”

Varley says that Dijzel somehow got a knife during the initial struggle and lashed out at him.

“I was on an adrenaline high and didn’t realise there was blood everywhere from my arm. After no response from Dijzel, I broke into the room, but he was already gone,” says Varley.

They discovered that he climbed out the bedroom window and because he was so tall, he was somehow able to reach his feet to the ledge on the 16th floor.

“Dijzel moved along the ledge to a flat on the 16th floor, where he kicked at the window and asked the residents to open it and let him in. This must have been when he lost his footing and fell through the roof of a ground level building,” says Varley.

Dawn Gounden, from Renegades Search and Rescue, says the organisation thanks the community of Amanzimtoti for being vigilant and the police for working to keep them safe.

“We appreciate the efforts of those who had taken the responsibility to alert and advise those working on this case with information that could assist SAPS in locating Dijzel. The approach by the residents in clamping down on crime while working in unison with SAPS to create a safe and secure, crime-free community is commended.

The excellent and tactful work by two highly motivated, professional and learned members of SAPS, Warrant Officer Reed and Captain Varley from Brighton Beach, who work continuously to keep the community safe by eradicating crime and criminals, is appreciated and does not go unnoticed,” adds Gounden.

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