Johannesburg - WHEN *Shawna heard about the brutal attack that left a 28-year-old neighbour dead and her 74-year-old grandmother badly injured, she was horrified at the cruelty.
Tracey-Lee Martins was assaulted until she died last Saturday.
Her grandmother, Rookeya van der Westhuizen, who gets around with the aid of a walker, was punched twice on the left side of the face.
When she was interviewed on Sunday, she still had marks on her neck where she had been strangled.
Shawna said she had been at work in Joburg for about 30 minutes when she got a call telling her that her 20-year-old son *Dante had been arrested in connection with the attack.
The Klipspruit West, Eldorado Park, mother said she was so shocked at the news that she could hardly walk or talk.
Had it been theft, she would have been able to deal with it, she said. But a murder, and one so brutal, was something else.
When she got home from work, there was a group of people gathered there, with some of them passing remarks about parents sending their children to commit murder – something that hurt her.
“I have been crying since, and not because my son has been arrested, though I care about him. I am crying because of the cruel manner in which Tracey and her grandmother were attacked, the fact that a person died and that my son was arrested in connection with it,” said the 46-year-old woman.
Shawna’s son appeared at the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of murder, house robbery and assault.
It is alleged that he and several others broke into the house to attack Martins and her grandmother to get money for drugs.
Klipspruit West residents, together with DA members, protested outside court on Monday, holding banners and shouting “Enough is enough”.
At court, Shawna and her husband Devon* were still trying to come to terms with the fact that the people their son is alleged to have attacked are known to the family.
However, the parents were united in their stance regarding the allegations. If he is guilty, he must do the time, they said.
Captain Nomvula Mbense said there would be an identity parade next week so that Van der Westhuizen can try to identify more of her attackers.
Mbense said seven people had been arrested for the attacks. Local residents had handed them over, but police had no evidence against them, so they released them.
The Star