Within just an hour of enjoying cake and coffee at a neighbour’s home on Valley Farm, Nelspruit teacher Annemarie Botha (65) and her son Ruan Brits (36) were attacked and brutally murdered at their home on Saturday evening. Ruan had a mental disability.
Police and local security companies have launched a massive manhunt in an effort to track down and arrest those responsible for the murders as post-mortems have reportedly begun on the mother and son today.
Karen Kruger Badenhorst, the neighbour who was celebrating her birthday, said Botha had been at her home an hour or so before the attack, eating cake. She said Annemarie left at about 16:30.
At around 18:15, Annemarie’s husband and sectional manager for Valley Farms, Faan Botha, came rushing over in a panic. Neighbours, friends and family have said they are “absolutely devastated” and that the double murder “was just too close to home”.
“Faan was doing his late afternoon patrols, as is part of the job, and when he finished, he went back to his house,” said another neighbour who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation. “He walked into the bedroom and saw it was in shambles.
Everything was everywhere. Then he knew there had been trouble. “He started looking and calling for his wife and then he walked into the lounge and found both her and Brits lying in a pool of blood.” He said Faan immediately went to his neighbours as the attackers had allegedly stolen the cellphones and he could not call anyone for help.
The police and Hi-Tech were then called out to the scene along with Bossies Community Justice to process the horrific scene. It is believed that the attack was a robbery gone wrong and some of the stolen items were found in the field between the house and the fence, which had allegedly been cut by the attackers.
From information received by Lowvelder, the cause of death was stab wounds and blunt force trauma. Faan’s cousin and family spokesperson, Jaap Breedt, told Lowvelder that it was clear from t he scene that Annemarie had put up a fight. “Tables and furniture were pushed over and the pool cues were broken in half.”
Albert Gryvenstein, operations manager of Bossies Community Justice (BCJ), who was also at the scene, said it was the worst scene he had ever attended. “She was such a loving woman – such a good person. She didn’t deserve to die like this,” said Breedt. Police on the scene told Breedt that they were able to gather a lot of evidence. “So we hope they catch them. But nothing can make up for this.”
Faan was patrolling the farm at the time of the murders as there had been two separate robberies on the farm earlier in the week. Annemarie was a teacher at Calvary Assembly and Christian School in Nelspruit and was actively involved at her church. Minister Gert Macdonald from the Hervormde Gemeente in Nelspruit said that Annemarie was always willing to help where she could. “We did Bible study together every Tuesday and she would be the first to put up her hand when someone needed something. I don’t know who would be able to do this to her.”
The other victim, Ruan Brits, was Annemarie’s son from a previous marriage. He was mentally disabled and resided in Wenakker Intellectually Disabled Adult Centre in Lydenburg. He only visited Annemarie and Faan on weekends. Casius Smit, director of the Wenakker Centre, said that the staff and residents of the centre were still in shock over the incident. “He was a resident of Wenakker for 18 years, half of his life.
He had a speech impediment, but was always laughing.” According to Breedt, one of the few things Brits could say was “mamma”. Brits enjoyed visiting Wenakker’s farm in De Bad where he would spend hours playing with the animals. “We will miss his laughter, hard work etiquette and kind nature.” Faan was admitted to hospital on Sunday evening due to the stress caused by the situation. He was released on Monday. “Fanie is heartbroken. He will never be able to go back to that house.” A vigil will be held in memory of the deceased on Monday night by the gate of the farm.
This article was originally published on Lowvelder.co.za
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