Johannesburg -
An Eldorado Park woman who was beaten and strangled allegedly by her neighbours who had broken into her home was pregnant at the time of the brutal attack.
Tracy-Lee Martins, 28, was at the beginning of her pregnancy when she was killed in front of her three-year-old son on April 27.
On Monday, her grandmother, who was also assaulted and dragged around the house at the time, burst into tears when she saw one of the alleged attackers in the Johannesburg High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court. Rookeya van der Westhuizen was waiting for the matter to start when she turned her head and saw Lance Rooza.
She immediately started shaking and crying. For the 74-year-old, seeing Rooza brought back memories of how she was choked, dragged on the floor and beaten until her face was black and blue.
Her family believe the only reason she lived to tell the tale was because she passed out when she was being choked and her attackers thought she was dead.
On that fateful day, Van der Westhuizen said she was woken by her grandson shouting: “Ouma, come see, they are killing my mother (Martins)”.
Rooza, Shanawaz Ahmento and Kyle Fredericks are accused of the murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances in the attack on Van der Westhuizen and Martins.
Rooza is out on bail but Ahmento and Fredericks remain in custody.
Their trial was set to begin on Monday, but was postponed to February 4.
At the time of her attack, Van der Westhuizen was using a walker because she had a broken foot. It is believed her injury was worsened by the attack.
Not only is she nursing physical injuries but the beating left her an emotional wreck. She cannot stomach the thought of stepping into her own house – the crime scene.
While still crying, Van der Westhuizen said although she had a house, she was technically homeless because she couldn’t bear to go back to her home as she felt unsafe.
Although her children have since turned it into a fortress by building high walls around it, she now lives with them, moving from one house to the other each month.
“I have a big house, but because of these children (accused), I don’t live there. I can’t forget what happened.I can’t sleep at night. I can’t eat. I am losing weight – look how thin I am,” Van der Westhuizen said, tears running down her face.
Her children said the attack had not only messed up their mother’s life but theirs, too.
They say they did not trust their neighbours anymore. They live as prisoners in their own homes.
The family used to gather at Van der Westhuizen’s house every Sunday for a big lunch, but that has stopped as their mother is too scared to step into her own house.
“The attack has basically made our mother homeless, and now there’s no home for us to go to anymore,” said Sharol Martins.
Van der Westhuizen, whose son Richard carried her out of court because she was struggling to walk, said she wanted her attackers and granddaughter’s killers to receive a life sentence. “I want their mothers to feel what I’m going through.”
The Star