Pretoria - The so-called Springs Monster and his now former wife will be sentenced on Wednesday.
One of his sons, who was 11-when his father beat him so severely that the child had to run to the neighbours for help, said in a statement handed to court that he will never forgive his father.
“I hope that uncle at the court (referring to Judge Eben Jordaan) never allows him out of jail again,” the boy said
The Gauteng High Court Pretoria on Monday heard that the 40-year-old father is a psychopath and a sadist.
Psychologist Bronwynn Stollarz, who held several interviews with the man, testified that she had never come across anyone in her professional career who has so little insight into what he had done.
She said he was a danger to others, especially those close to him and he will never change. He blamed his wife and children for what he had done and took no responsibility for his deeds.
The court also heard that he had “found the Lord” while in prison and that he was running his own church and Bible group for other inmates.
The defence asked the court to consider the fact that the father was also abused by his own father when he grew up.
He was often hit in the face and on his body with objects and according to him, one of his father’s friends also sexually abused him.
His advocate did concede that he had to go to jail for a very long time.
Counsel for his now former 40-year-old wife asked the court to have mercy on her, as she too, was a victim and she suffered from battered woman’s syndrome.
Harry Prinsloo argued that his client should receive a suspended sentence, but that it should be on condition that she attended compulsory psychiatric or psychology sessions.
The State called for imprisonment for both parents, but for especially a long term in jail for the man. Prosecutor Jennifer cronje said it is a pity that the death sentence was abolished. She also asked the court not to sentence the man to a life behind bars sentence, because this meant that he could apply for parole after serving 25 years. She said he should get a much longer term.
Cronje also referred to the fact that most of the five children wanted nothing to do with their parents. In referring to them they called them the “oom (uncle) and “tannie” (auntie).
The man earlier told his advocate that he would like to see his children one day and ask them for forgiveness.
But Cronje said social workers all agreed that neither of the parents should ever again see their children. If they did, it would undo all the therapy they have received up to now.
The youngest boy, only identified as D, was 2-years-old when the police swooped on the so-called house of horrors - a double storey house in Springs - in 2014.
The only positive regarding hi, the state said, was that he was probably too little to remember everything which happened in the house.
The next child, identified as N, was three at the time when she was removed. She is so traumatised that when the social worker consulted with her, she got onto the woman’s lap and lay there like a baby. She did not want to speak about what happened in her parental home.
J was four when she was removed, alongside her siblings. She too is traumatised and have anger issues.
But the oldest two children were the most affected. Cronje said she is worried about him, as he appeared to have suicidal tendencies. In his statement to court he said he does not feel normal.
Apart from hating his father, he is also angry with his mother. “She should also go to jail. She has not been punished for what she had done. She never protected us,” he said.
Cronje said he was a hero, because if he did not go and seek help after his father’s severe beating, the children would still be living behind closed doors as prisoners in the house, while being subjected to severe torturing.
The couple were convicted in August on an array of charges. This included child abuse and child neglect.
The father was also convicted on additional charges of raping his then 16-year-old daughter and the attempted murder of his son.