Victim's father wants murder-accused paediatric surgeon Peter Beale prosecuted at all costs

JOHANNESBURG - The legal team for murder-accused paediatric surgeon Peter Beale said the father of a 10-year-old boy who died after being operated on by him, wants him prosecuted at all costs.

Beale’s trial continued in the High Court in Johannesburg today on Monday as he faces three counts of murder and two of fraud.

The charges relate to the deaths of children he operated on, with the state alleging that he acted recklessly and undertook unnecessary surgeries for financial gain.

Mohammadh Sayed is currently on the stand. His son, Zayaan, died following surgery Beale performed on the child in 2019, which, according to the state, tests had in fact indicated he did not need.

Zayaan’s parents only received the test results several days after his surgery and subsequent death.

Under cross-examination on Monday, Beale’s counsel, Advocate Barry Roux, pointed to a statement Sayed made in the immediate aftermath in which he was already then calling for a criminal prosecution.

He said that they would argue that, "this was going to be from the inception a prosecution at all costs, irrelevant of the facts."

Roux also raised the involvement of EFF Leader Julius Malema, whose links to Sayed and his business partner, Adriano Mazzotti, are well-known, and who attended court to offer his support.

Roux abandoned this line of questioning on the back of an objection from the state.