Robber ensured mom was spared
2005-12-04 23:03
Linda de Beer
Lichtenburg - I believe my angel was with me, says Rien Botha, 61, whose 78-year-old stepfather was murdered a few metres from her in their home in 8th Lane, Kieserville.
Botha was unscathed after one of the attackers took pity on her.
Botha found Abie Wienekus in a "large pool of blood" after trying for more than half an hour to free herself from the ropes with which her feet and hands had been tied.
Wienekus had been beaten repeatedly on the head with a waterpipe. His arms were also covered in wounds, apparently trying to fend off the attack, said superintendent Louis Jacobs of the police.
Three attackers got into the house by bending burglar proofing on a window to Wienekus's bedroom. Botha believed they had been waiting for him when he went to bed about 22:00.
She didn't hear the attack on her father as she was busy in the kitchen. She was overpowered shortly afterwards in her own room.
One was protective of her
"When they came in, I prayed out loud. I became dead calm.
"One of them said I shouldn't worry, they wouldn't kill me. They were looking only for money.
"He sat down on the bed next to me. When one of the others grabbed me by the throat, he told the man to leave me alone."
She handed the keys to the safe, which was in her room, to the men. They took the money, but believed she was still hiding some on her body.
"They took off all my clothes. I put my elbows on my knees to cover my breasts. I asked them for my dressing gown behind the door.
"The one who was sitting on the bed with me helped me put it on and even buttoned it up."
Her hands and feet were tied with nylon rope before the attackers left with about R7 000 in cash, two firearms and two cellphones. It took her about half an hour to untie the knots in the rope with her teeth.
Wienekus was already dead by the time she reached him. She called her son, Hansie, who also lived in Lichtenburg, to come and help her.
"My father was a calm person. He wouldn't harm a fly or an ant. But I think he had a premonition.
Is going to give up her farm stall
"The week before last, he said he wanted to go to my mother," said Botha, a widow.
Wienekus was her stepfather. Botha lost her husband and her mother about nine years ago within a short space of each other.
"I'm in a terrible state. Life has hit me hard. I just want to cry ... and then I can't breathe."
She planned to give up the farm stall she had been running outside the town for many years, because her sons thought it was too dangerous. Her father had often joined her there for company.
Jacobs said police were following up leads about possible suspects.
- Beeld