Pretoria – A man from Roseville, west of Pretoria, was so infuriated with his former mother-in-law for hitting him with her handbag and beating him on his chest with her fists, that he stabbed her 31 times with a knife.
Stefan Visser, 28, was convicted in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, of the murder last year.
Visser pleaded guilty to murder and said while he stabbed his ex-mother-in-law Elsabe van Niekerk to death, he knew exactly what he was doing and he realised at the time that she could die.
He attacked Van Niekerk, a pastor and a businesswoman at her Gezina business premises.
The court heard that Van Niekerk was the part owner of a vehicle repair garage and the mother of Visser’s former wife, Leandré, whom he had divorced at the time. The couple had two children in the marriage.
Van Niekerk died on the scene from multiple stab wounds on April 11, last year. Visser said he and his ex-wife lived with her parents when they were first together – he was 17 at the time and she was 16.
According to him, they were happily married for several years until he switched jobs. He later lost his job and they experienced financial problems, which led to marital strife. A week prior to the murder, he had had an altercation with his former in-laws when he attended a sporting event at his son’s school. Visser said his father-in-law had accused him of not greeting the older man and they had had words over the issue.
On the day of the stabbing, Visser went to his parents’ home in Hercules, where he drank some beers. He then decided to to go his mother-in-law’s business, as he wanted to talk to one of the mechanics.
He said he also wanted to apologise to his mother-in-law for his behaviour at his son’s school the previous week. He and Hannes, the mechanic, drank some beers at the business as Van Niekerk was not there.
Visser said he was in the toilet when he heard his mother-in-law’s voice outside. He found her in her office and they started to argue about his ex-wife and his children.
“We shouted at each other and she hit me with her handbag and punched me in the chest.
The trial was adjourned.