Western Cape -
The sleepy town of Bredasdorp, where Anene Booysen was raped and murdered, was quiet on Sunday, before the next court appearance of the two men accused of the crime.
There is no one in sight, the open sports field and the streets are quiet.
A cloud of sand is swept across the dusty road leading to the town of Simunye where 17-year-old Anene lived. But most people the Cape Argus come across are unwilling to speak about the gruesome rape and murder, which has shocked South Africa and made international headlines.
Anene’s rape and murder has sparked renewed campaigns to stop the scourge and the incident was mentioned during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address.
The front door of the home Anene shared with her foster mother, Corlia Olivier, is shut. No one is home.
In Bergsig, Ellen Harmse, Anene’s foster grandmother, sits in a chair inside her house. The front door is open and welcoming.
“It’s so quiet here now,” she comments from her chair.
Family will be gathering at her home for a Sunday visit.
“It’s going so much better and with Corlia too. So many people have reached out to her.”
Harmse says she misses Anene, who she describes as well behaved and shy.
“In January she still lived up the road from me, before she moved to her (foster) mother.
“At the time she would come to store food in the freezer, because there wasn’t a freezer where she lived.
“Just the other day, someone walked up the road and it was someone who looked just like her.
“I felt that she would anytime walk through the door.
“We used to chat. I loved her very much and I miss her.”
The granny adds that she hopes that justice takes its course.
A few doors away from Harmse, over the road, lives 26-year-old Adele Abrahams.
Abrahams lived with Anene for two years before the teen moved to Simunye to live with her mom.
“We shared a room,” she said on Sunday.
She goes silent, not comfortable talking about her friend.
By early evening children start playing in the yard and front doors are left open to combat the scorching heat.
Johannes Kana, 21, and Jonathan Davids, 22, are expected to appear in the Bredasdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the rape and murder.
Cape Argus