By Karen Breytenbach
On the night of Inge Lotz's murder, her boyfriend told his flatmate he was too anxious about her safety to wait until someone else had checked up on her and would drive to Stellenbosch himself, the Cape High Court heard on Thursday.
Marius Botha said Fred van der Vyver left their Pinelands flat about 10.20pm with a black tog bag in his hand, saying he would stay over at Lotz's place if all was well.
Lotz was murdered on Wednesday March 16, 2005. Pathologists estimated her death occurred between late afternoon and late evening. Van der Vyver, who is on trial for the murder, denies being in Stellenbosch at the time.
Botha said Van der Vyver told him at 10.15pm that "he and Lotz's mother had been trying to get hold of her since 3pm and were both very worried. He mentioned that he was afraid she had fainted".
Lotz, Botha and Van der Vyver studied actuarial science together at Stellenbosch University from 2001 to 2004. Botha and Lotz had been friends since 2001 and Van der Vyver joined their circle the following year.
"Our group of friends often spent weekends at Inge's parents' home. Auntie Juanita was like a mother to us all."
In 2005, when Botha and Van der Vyver started working at Old Mutual as bursary holders, they decided to share a flat in Pinelands near work.
Both were members of the His People's Church in Stellenbosch, he said, but Lotz wasn't a member.
Botha, who was on study leave in March 2005, said he saw Van der Vyver for the first time at the flat about 6pm on March 16.
"We made dinner and watched 7de Laan and 15 minutes of the seven o'clock news. Fred told me he had picked up a cupboard in Stellenbosch for other friends who lived in our complex. He asked me to help him deliver it." Botha said.
Botha returned to the flat about 7.45pm and went to his room to study. Van der Vyver followed about 15 minutes later.
"My door was closed, but I remember hearing him talking on the phone and opening the sliding door. About 10.15pm he knocked on my door and told me he was worried about Inge. I suggested that we send someone from Stellenbosch to check up on her. He did not want to wait. He said he'd stop by her parents' Welgemoed home to pick up a key to her flat."
Botha said he last saw Lotz the previous Saturday and last spoke to her on the phone the night before her death.