Cape Town - Enraged Klawer residents are expected to stage a protest demonstration outside the Klawer Periodical Court on Monday morning during the first appearance of the man believed to be involved in the disappearance of a 13-year-old boy.
The 56-year-old suspect is set to appear on a charge of murder, following his arrest over the weekend when police discovered human remains in his sewer drains whilst looking for missing 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk.
Rural and Farmworkers Development Organization Executive Director Billy Claasen said: “Jerobejin went missing on Wednesday afternoon while picking apples with a friend in a separate part of town.
"Residents believe that suspect saw him and began chasing him and his friend from the property when he bumped him over with his vehicle and took him away.”
“We are completely devastated and disgusted by the incident, and we believe the accused has done this before. Other children have gone missing mysteriously in this area too.
"Tomorrow [on Monday] residents will be protesting at court, we don’t want him released on bail. We have even drawn up and signed a petition against his release and will be handing it over tomorrow at court,” Claasen said.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said it was too soon to speculate on the identity of the remains found while the body of the victim was yet to be found.
He said: “Police are still investigating the case of the missing 13-year-old boy. Our forensic experts are still in the process of examining the crime scene in search of more leads.
“Meanwhile, the charge against the 56-year-old man arrested on Thursday on a charge of kidnapping has been changed to murder.”
While police say they were yet to determine whether the remains were those of missing Jerobejin, his devastated mother Triesha van Wyk told the Weekend Argus that she had a horrible feeling that she just could not shake that they were her son’s remains.
She said her son went with a friend to pick mangoes from a relatively well-off part of the town. She waited for her son to return home, but had not heard from him.
In an eNCA interview on Sunday, the suspect's lawyer Santie Human said that the man confessed to the teen's murder.
"On Friday, we received more information from him at the police station and that's when they found the child's remains [at his property], and he was then arrested at that time.
"I can confirm that the child found at his home is the missing Van Wyk child," she said.
Niewoudt Primary School Principal John Cloete said: “Currently, the community is still in shock. What happened last week leading into the weekend was traumatic, and our prayers are with the family at this time.
“We are trying not to speculate, but with circulating rumours, our focus has to be safeguarding vulnerable children.
“As all of our learners return to school this morning, we will host a special prayer at assembly, and we plan to talk to them and create a safe environment outside of what they experienced this past weekend. I will also be putting into motion a back to school drive.”
“I think it’s important that we locate and bring back into the school system all learners now that the Department of Education has given us the go-ahead to resume normal schooling schedule,” Cloete said.
On Sunday afternoon concerned residents, community leaders, and activists held a meeting in the area to receive feedback from local police on the progress of the case.
