Lotz parents take Fred to court

2008-03-16 08:24

Marlene Malan

Cape Town - Fred van der Vyver is going back to court - this time to face a claim of R8m which the parents of his murdered girlfriend, Inge Lotz, have instituted against him.

Professor Jan and his wife Juanita Lotz claim this amount for the pain and damage they have suffered due to their only daughter's death.

Notice if this huge civil claim was on Friday served on Van der Vyver at his workplace. It was to the day, exactly three years since Lotz had been killed in her Stellenbosch flat.

Van der Vyver had been found not guilty of the murder in November 2007. His legal bill came to about R9m, the family later said.

Enough evidence

But the Lotz couple believes there is enough evidence for a civil claim to succeed.

In a criminal case, an accused has to be found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, but in a civil claim, the defendant's guilt depends only on a balance of probabilities.

Lotz's parents each claim just over R4m. This includes R2m each for pain, suffering, shock, psychological damage and R2m each for the loss of enjoyment of life. They also claim R10 000 for Juanita's medical expenses, R30 000 for the professor's medical expenses and about R400 000 for their future medical expenses.

Their claim is similar to the civil prosecution of the former US football player OJ Simpson who was found not guilty of the murder of his wife and her lover in the 1990s. But in a civil court, he was ordered to pay the deceased's family R25m.

Dani Cohen, spokesperson for the Lotz parents, told Rapport they are suing Fred "for damage done to them because of Van der Vyver's alleged murder of their daughter".

They are doing it because of the "fact that Van der Vyver's unlawful and planned murder of Inge caused them severe shock and psychological damage".

"The two parents are totally shattered by the murder of their only, beloved child and their pain has not lessened with time."

"They know that no compensation will bring back their child, but her death has caused permanent, incalculable and indescribable damage."

"Her mother has often said the day that Inge ... died, her soul died too."

The summons was delivered at 15:00 on Friday afternoon to Van der Vyver at Old Mutual in Pinelands where he had resumed his job at the end of last year. The head of security had to give it to him because he was not at work and no one knew where he was.

Advocate Dup de Bruyn, legal representative of Fred van der Vyver said on Saturday morning, "We were surprised and shocked by the summons. It is actually sad that it had to go this far, but we know what the thinking is behind the claim and we will address it in court."

- Rapport