Woman's 52-hour ordeal in boot
2008-03-25 23:01
Ohrigstad - "Don't wake anyone; they'll think you're a robber. Wait till it's light," her kidnappers told Hennielene Botha, 46, when they dropped her off in a trust area at 03:00.
Hennielene had been in the boot of her own car for about 52 hours while her kidnappers drove around Mpumalanga and Limpopo before dropping her off in the trust area 36km north of Hoedspruit on Tuesday morning at 03:00.
At Iketla Lodge outside Ohrigstad on Tuesday, Hennielene told what had happened to her since she was kidnapped from her house on Saturday night by three robbers.
Hennielene had been in bed about 22:00 when she heard noises in the house.
She had thought it was her husband coming to bed, but he had been busy with guests at the lodge.
"I was about to jump up when a man appeared in my room.
"Two more men came in with sawn-off shotguns.
'They just wanted money'
"They pushed me into a corner and started going through our things.
"The leader of the group told me he was unemployed and that this was his business.
"He didn't want to hurt me, he just wanted money."
The robbers found the Bothas' bank cards and asked Hennielene to write down the PIN codes for them, which she did.
They tied her to a chair and left the room.
A few minutes later, they came back and said Hennielene had to go with them so that they could draw money.
Hennielene, who had been wearing only her nightdress, grabbed a skirt before she left the house.
She was forced into her car on the driver's side.
They went to Pench, outside Burgersfort, where the robbers tried to draw money.
"I told them that it was the correct PIN code. I really did give them the right PIN code."
They then tried, again unsuccessfully, to draw money in Steelpoort.
Botha was then loaded into the car's boot where she lay until Tuesday morning when she was dropped off.
"One almost feels safe in the boot," she said.
"Rather in the boot and away from them than being among them.
"We drove on many gravel roads. They even stopped at a shebeen once, bought alcohol and drank it.
Banged on boot and shouted
"At one stage, they slept for two hours.
"On Sunday, they told me they would set me free on Monday.
"Then, I still had hope."
On Monday, about 12:15, the kidnappers attacked and robbed foreign tourists outside Graskop.
"I heard someone say that Graskop wasn't too far.
"I banged against the boot and shouted:,'Help me, help me!'
"They jumped in the car and sped away.
"On three occasions, I thought we were going to have an accident.
"I just prayed that I would get out of there alive."
According to Hennielene, Ronel Swart made the connection between the kidnapping and the robbing of the tourists after reading an article in the Beeld.
Police, members of the community and of the Ohrigstad Farmers' Association launched an intense search in the Graskop area.
Hennielene was dropped off shortly after 03:00 on Tuesday.
She hid in an outside toilet where an older woman found her.
She tried to explain to the old woman and her family what had happened to her.
A baker who spoke Afrikaans arrived and eventually called the police.
'She had never been so beautiful'
An inspector from Hoedspruit police fetched Hennielene and took her to shower and to contact her husband.
"I'm alive and I'm unharmed. They didn't touch me. I'm extremely grateful," she said.
Her husband, Albert, said that when he fetched her on Tuesday the sun had never shone as brightly and his wife had never been so beautiful.
Superintendent Amanda de Beer of the crime-prevention unit in Mpumalanga said it would be only a matter of time before the three robbers were caught.