Bio
Taliep Petersen (15 April, 1950 - 16 December, 2006) was a legendary South African musician and playwright renowned for his international productions of District Six: The Musical and Kat and the Kings, which he penned with musician David Kramer.
He was born in District Six in 1950.
Although Petersen worked as an actor and musician in his early career, it was when he teamed up with David Kramer in 1986 to make the musical District Six that he hit the big time.
He went on to forge a 20-year partnership with Kramer which would realise five musicals - District Six: The Musical, Musical Poison, Fairyland, Kat and the Kings and Ghoema.
Kat And The Kings toured internationally, having runs on London's West End and New York's Broadway to critical acclaim. Ghoema recently opened in London.
Petersen also wrote the television musical sitcom Alie Barber, which aired on kykNET and M-Net for two seasons. He presented the shows O'se Distrik Ses and Joltyd on kykNET as well.
Petersen was a judge on the 2006 Afrikaans version of Idols. He and his family received death threats shortly before the show started, but Petersen decided to continue with it.
On Saturday 16 December 2006, Petersen was murdered in his home by a gang of supposed armed robbers, later found to have been hired by his wife, Najwa Petersen. He was taken to the living room, bound to a chair with tie-strips, robbed of his cash and cellphone and fatally shot through the neck.
His murder was chronicled in the M-Net docu-drama series Crimes Uncovered, in 2012, which detailed how Najwa conspired to have him killed after she found out he was planning to leave her. She was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
TVSA News Story: Taliep Petersen Murdered