By Taariq Halim
A community mourned on Saturday as they laid to rest a mother and her two sons, who were killed in a shooting spree that left seven people dead and the normally quiet Koue Bokkeveld reeling.
Elmien Jooste, wife of alleged killer Johnny Jooste, and her sons, Blake and Sanjay, were buried on Saturday in a moving ceremony that saw many people break into sobs. Cornelia Visagie, Mrs Jooste's sister, was also buried.
The funerals of the rest of the victims - Mrs Jooste's other two sisters, Janetta Jacobs and Sophia Swartz, and Mrs Swartz's husband Pastor Barend Swartz, will be held in Calvinia on Sunday.
Relatives, struggling to cope with the tremendous shock of the deaths in the family, grieved inconsolably as the bodies of Blake, six, and Sanjay, three, were lowered into the earth with their mother and Mrs Visagie.
The only surviving member of the Jooste family, 13-year-old daughter, Ruanne, was overcome with grief and had to be supported by relatives.
At Saturday's funeral service, Christina Beukes, Mrs Jooste's elder sister, told reporters that losing four sisters in one day was a terrible blow to her and her family.
"We had to go to the doctor to be treated for shock," said Mrs Beukes.
"Ons sal vir 'n lang tyd seer bly (the pain will stay with us for a long time) but we must learn to live with it. Especially the death of Cornelia, who is survived by her husband and daughter," she said.
"We were 10 sisters, now we are six," she said.
She added that the family had very bitter feelings towards Mr Jooste, but that ultimately "God would judge him".
Jooste, 35, a former member of the National Defence Force and a farm worker, allegedly gunned down his relatives at Ou Muur, the farm where they worked, after a heated argument with his wife.
After the killings last Sunday, police launched a massive manhunt for Jooste, who fled into the mountains and threatened to kill again before killing himself.
The 24-hour search ended when he handed himself over to a principal at Skurweberg High and Primary school. The principal and teachers walked him to a police joint operations centre where he was arrested. He also handed over a 9mm firearm.
Saturday's funeral service was attended by about 500 people.
"The community has been a big help and everybody, especially the schools in the area, which have been very supportive," said Mrs Beukes.
She said the family was receiving trauma counselling.
Jooste is to appear on charges of murder and pointing a firearm.