I can't go on - dying guard
2006-10-02 23:07
Polokwane - "I can't go on any more," were the last words whispered by murdered cash guard Deon Stein.
He was one of four security guards who died on Friday in Limpopo during a daring cash-in-transit heist when their security van was torched.
Stein, 20, was conscious briefly after farmer Neels Hennop pulled him from the burning cash van.
Stein's father, Rex, said on Monday that one of his son's colleagues was there while his son was still alive.
"He put his hand on Deon's leg and said 'Just hang in there, Deon.' My son died shorty afterwards."
Deon began working at SBV three months ago.
Wants them to burn slowly
His father said that he bore an "ugly grudge" in his heart against his son's murderers.
"If I lay my hands on them, I'll set them on fire slowly, really slowly, piece by piece."
Stein died along with colleagues Marcus Malete, Dirk Kleynhans and Hennie Botha when they were trapped in their cash van which a foiled heist gang torched.
Kleynhans's wife, Colette, said she felt bitter about what had happened.
The couple were married six months ago and she may be pregnant.
She said her husband was not supposed to work on that Friday.
"He was called in because one of the other guards wasn't available for this trip," she said.
Kleynhans and her family are deeply upset because they received confirmation of her husband's death only about 20:00 on Friday.
"A woman phoned me that afternoon and said she was so sorry to hear of my husband's death.
"But, I didn't know anything then. SBV could, at least, have let us know sooner."
Her brother, Armand, who also works for SBV, has decided to resign.
For security reasons, only the driver of each cash van can take a cellphone with him.
"I couldn't even phone my husband to ask if he was okay," said Kleynhans said, bursting into tears.
She now has to care for his daughter Chane, five, from a previous marriage.
Chane did not yet understand where her father was on Monday. She gave her mother a flower and said: "Mommy, I've just kissed Daddy on a photo."
Hennie Botha's family was still severely shocked about his death on Monday.
"He died so cruelly, but I'm satisfied about where my child is now," said his mother Elize Botha.
The family said Botha, just like Stein, began work three months ago at SBV.
Family is devastated
"He gave his all to his work and was crazy about it.
"He was such a loving person, who could think this would happen to him?" said his brother, Dries.
The fourth guard who died in the inferno, Marcus Malete, had worked for SBV for more than a year.
His sister, Gwenya Raphela, said on Monday the family are devastated by her brother's death.
"But, my parents don't want to say anything about him to the media," she said.