Cape Town: The Atlantis Regional Court has sentenced the man who murdered his ex-girlfriend to 22 years imprisonment.
Owen Steenberg, 25, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, for the murder of 21-year-old Charné Viljoen.
He was convicted on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault.
Viljoen was stabbed to death outside a shopping complex in Saxon Sea, in Atlantis on May 3 last year.
Steenberg is also alleged to have stabbed one of Viljoen’s male friends on April 30. Viljoen and Steenberg had a three-year-old son together.
During his plea and sentencing, Steenberg told the court he approached Viljoen’s new boyfriend on April 21, 2021, wanting to ask about their relationship. He was ignored.
Steenberg said that had angered him, resulting in him taking out a knife and stabbing the man in his chest and back.
The knife penetrated the victim’s left lung.
A week later, on April 28, 2021, Steenberg admitted to running into Viljoen on her way to the shop in Elizabeth Circle in Saxon Sea. He approached her, wanting to speak about her new relationship. She ignored him and he threatened to stab and kill her.
At that time, she filed charges against him at a police station.
On May 3, 2021, Steenberg saw Viljoen and her cousin walking to the shop. He approached her and told her to end her new relationship and to give them another chance.
Viljoen refused and told him to leave her alone.
He grabbed her, pushed her against a wall and stabbed her in the chest.
The court heard Viljoen pushed Steenberg away and walk away from him but he followed her and continued to stab her.
When she fell, he ran away.
Police arrested Steenberg on May 4, 2021.
Senior State prosecutor Fiona Cloete said gender-based violence and femicide were rife in the country.
“This is of concern to the community who expect the courts to deal appropriately with such matters. The irresponsible actions of the accused caused the sudden death of a mother of a small child who had to deal with the fact that his mother died at the hands of his biological father, and this will, in all probability, impact the child for the rest of his life,” Cloete submitted.
Steenberg was sentenced to four years direct imprisonment for attempted murder.
He was sentenced to 18 years direct imprisonment for assault and murder.
The court ordered that two years imprisonment on the count of attempted murder run concurrently with the latter sentence.
It was further ordered that Steenberg was unfit to possess a firearm.
Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence.
“I hope the family of the deceased will find solace in knowing that the accused will spend time in jail for his cowardice deeds.
“The fight against gender-based violence and femicide must continue and we cannot take the foot off the pedal in this fight. We all need to put our shoulders on the wheel and move together as a society, knowing that our victory here will benefit generations to come.
“It’s a fight we cannot lose,” Bell said.
During proceedings, Viljoen’s relatives were inconsolable as details of her murder were being told.
Janine Passenz, from the Survivors Haven Foundation, an organisation that advocates against gender-based violence, told IOL the sentenced imposed would never justify taking a life.
“The accused pleaded guilty and said all three charges were committed out of anger. Twenty years of imprisonment can never justify a very young life of a mother, daughter, and grandchild who was brutally taken.
“The case came to an end but we can only pray for healing in Charne's mom and family members' lives,” she said.
Passenz urged persons in abusive relationships to get out.
“I want to give a strong message to any person in an abusive relationship male or female: ‘Get help, walk away, reach out. No amount of years can bring back a life that is lost.’ As an organisation, we hoped for a life sentence but we can just hope that the Charne’s family can find closure and somehow her son will find comfort one day.”