'We want that chapter behind us' — SA couple who worked on Epstein's island
A Jeffreys Bay couple who worked on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island have spoken out after the release of new Epstein files
Image: Daily Mail
A Jeffreys Bay couple say they want nothing more than to put a much-talked-about chapter of their lives behind them — nearly a decade spent working on the private island of convicted child sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to IOL on Sunday morning, Cathy and Miles Alexander said they had tried to move on after leaving Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands, where they had been employed for eight years, and had kept a low profile since returning home.
Their comments come after a fresh batch of long-sealed documents had been released on Friday as part of the Epstein files.
The documents, unsealed during ongoing civil litigation linked to Epstein’s trafficking network, have once again thrust his Caribbean island — and those connected to it — back into the global spotlight, with a number of prominent names mentioned, including ex-SA president Jacob Zuma.
Epstein had been arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors.
He died later that year in a New York jail while awaiting trial, in what authorities ruled a suicide.
Epstein had previously been convicted in 2008 in Florida after pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
He served just over a year in jail under a controversial plea deal and was later required to register as a sex offender.
The Alexanders, of Paradise Beach in the Eastern Cape surfing town of Jeffreys Bay, said they moved to the island in 1999.
That was after the couple, who had been publicly linked to Epstein in a 2011 article by British tabloid Daily Mail, had been offered what they believed to have been an exciting job opportunity.
“It seemed at the time to be a good offer for us,” Cathy told IOL, adding their time there had been like “running a hotel”.
“It sounded very exciting and we agreed we would like to try it.”
Miles said he had been appointed as the managing director of the island, while Cathy fulfilled housekeeping duties.
Cathy said their overall experience of working on the island had been positive.
“Our overall experience of working there was very nice,” she said.
“We had a good working relationship with Epstein and Maxwell.
"We had no problems with him at all.”
The Maxwell she referred to was Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s close associate, who was convicted in the US in 2021 on federal sex trafficking charges.
She had been sentenced in 2022 to 20 years’ imprisonment plus a US$750,000 fine.
The couple said they had lived close to Epstein’s residence on the island.
“Our house was about 50 metres [about 0.05km] away from Epstein,” Cathy said.
A distance of 0.05km is about 167 standard 30cm rulers laid end to end.
“It was towards the dock and it had a little blue roof in the bush right on the edge.”
Miles said Epstein had treated them well during the time they worked there.
“He treated us extremely well,” he said.
“All the time there was never a problem with him.
"I worked with him a lot, so did my wife and we never had any issues with him at all.”
The couple said they had then left the island after what they described as a good 10 years.
“We left in 2007,” Cathy said.
Miles said claims linking them to wrongdoing had surfaced years later and had been firmly denied.
“The claim was probably made by Virginia Roberts [Giuffre] at the time.
"We know of that and we deny it ... we were never involved in any sort of trafficking or any of that nonsense.
"We were just the managers on the island,” he said.
Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, was one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers.
She alleged she was trafficked as a teenager and abused by Epstein and others, and has previously claimed that people who worked on the island were aware of what had happened.
Giuffre died in April 2025 in Australia.
Her family said she had taken her own life following years of trauma linked to the abuse she said she suffered, NBC reported.
The Alexanders have consistently denied any knowledge or involvement.
Cathy said she had never witnessed anything suspicious while living and working there.
“We never saw anything suspicious,” she said.
Miles said, as far as they could tell, they had never seen underage people on the island.
“What they normally say is that what happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors,” he said.
“Again, as far as we could tell, we never saw underage people on the island.”
He also pointed to strict entry and exit controls in the US Virgin Islands.
“I want to remind you that the Virgin Islands are a port of entry for the US,” he said.
“So, if you arrive or depart, you have to go through customs and immigration ... they are pretty strict about that.”
He said if someone had arrived as an underage person, officials would have questioned why they were not accompanied.
Miles said records had been kept on guests.
“We used to keep details on file,” he said.
“Things like allergies, preferences and what they liked to eat.
None of those people gave us dates or ages that were underage.”
Cathy added: “We had details of their passports so we knew that they were all over 18.
"We knew that we weren’t dealing with anyone underage.”
Miles said many of the allegations now being discussed related to events after they had already left.
“Most of the things they are talking about actually happened after we had left,” he said.
Asked whether they saw high-profile individuals acting out of line, Miles said no.
“No,” he said.
“The press have been hounding us a lot and most of the time we had no control of the actual narrative.
"I don’t trust the media.”
He said they had not seen the latest files and had no interest in them.
“It’s been 20 odd years,” he said.
“I would like to get that part of our lives behind us ... I think everyone is making a big hash of it.”
Cathy said: “There’s a lot of sensationalism out there.”
Miles said they could only speak to what they personally witnessed.
“Whether it’s true or not, I can’t say,” he said.
“We can only answer what we saw and witnessed on the island.
“I never saw anybody trying to escape the island. Nobody ever came crying to me.
"I never experienced any of that.”
Cathy added: “We haven’t been hounded by law enforcement.”
Miles said attempts had been made to subpoena them to the US Virgin Islands during legal proceedings linked to Epstein, but it never materialised.
“They tried to subpoena us to the Virgin Island but it was never served,” he said.
The subpoena had related to the Alexanders being asked to testify in the JPMorgan Chase civil case, which had accused the bank of ignoring red flags and providing banking services that had helped enable and conceal Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
Miles said his role had been purely operational.
“It was my job to run the island as best as I could.
"We followed instructions from him, his lawyers or Miss Maxwell at the time.
"We did what we could to make everyone’s visit good.
“But there was no funny business and we had to follow the normal privacy protocols.
"To us, it was like running a hotel, people arrived, we greeted them, showed them the facilities, told them to enjoy themselves and if they had questions to come and see us.”
On Epstein being convicted as a sex offender, Miles said: “Well, I assume they convicted him on the basis of the facts that they had.”
Cathy said she had shared his view.
“We saw nothing untoward that I can recall.
"We never had anyone come to us crying or telling us what had happened and we never saw any evidence either.”
In the files, a trafficking survivor claimed that the couple had witnessed the abuse.
"Miles and Cathy were [allegedly] always around on St Little James as they were the island managers," she said.
The pair, the alleged survivor added, was paid highly to observe everything.
"They were always in and out of bungalows, shepherding us around and serving us," the person alleged.
"When I first arrived, they greeted me with warmth and friendliness.
"Their smiles were white and bright.
"They [allegedly] used the same friendly, warm smiles to comfort me after Epstein raped me, and I fled, bleeding and crying," she said.
The Alexanders denied this.
"I can categorically say that didn't happen," Miles said.
"It is the biggest bull*** I have ever heard.
"If we ever saw anything, we would have left early."
In stark contrast to what the couple had said on Sunday morning, the Daily Mail had published a story in 2011 in which the duo had claimed to have uncovered disturbing information.
They had allegedly told the news outlet Cathy had found Epstein’s warrant of arrest and had informed her husband.
The Alexanders had also allegedly claimed whenever their boss had come home, they had seen attractive girls parading around topless.
Cathy was further quoted as saying she had seen girls who might have been 16 or 17.
Daily Maverick exclusively reported on Saturday that emails contained in the files released on Friday revealed an intimate dinner Epstein had allegedly organised for Zuma in London in 2010.
Attempts to solicit comment from Zuma’s office had proved futile.
IOL