Cape Town - Bikers have gathered to stage a mass ride to Cape Town Magistrates’ Court to protest at the murder case of Zelda van Niekerk, who was shot and robbed over the weekend.
Zelda, 45, was attacked by three robbers on Friday afternoon while waiting for another biker on the N1 highway under the N7 bridge.
Friend and fellow biker, Jaco Wessels, says Zelda, who runs a screenprinting business, was on her way to Fish Hoek to escort children to a matric ball when the attack happened.
“She was waiting for another biker who was three minutes late when the shooting happened,” he explains.
“When the biker arrived, they found that a motorist had stopped and was trying to resuscitate her. From what we can tell, she was shot once in the stomach, but was declared dead on the scene.
Metro Police spokesperson, Sergeant Ruth Solomons, says within hours, one of the suspects was arrested by the City’s specialised units following a tip-off.
After receiving information about a firearm being kept in a house in Ventura Street, Kensington, officers of the Metro Police’s K9 Unit, Gang and Drug Task Team, and Law Enforcement Stabilisation Unit conducted a search.
Video: Henk Kruger
“The officers searched the house and a male occupant. They found a fully loaded .38 chrome special revolver on top of a wardrobe, 10 live rounds of ammunition as well as different bank cards and a driver’s licence in a dustbin,” says Solomons.
“It was found that the cards belonged to the woman who was robbed on the N1 under the N7 bridge earlier that day.
“The 33-year-old suspect was charged with possession of an illegal firearm, suspected stolen property, illegal possession of ammunition and is also suspected of murder, pending the outcome of a ballistics test of the firearm which will be conducted by SAPS.”
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut, confirms the arrest and says two other suspects are still being sought.
Jaco says her death has shocked and angered fellow bikers as Zelda was the driving force behind many charity drives.
“She was living in Edgemead with her partner of two years but about a month ago, her partner died of cancer and she moved to Table View.
“She has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship whom she legally adopted.
“She was the driving force of Bikers with a Cause and did several charity and cancer drives.
“The okes are very angry about her death and a pic of him is already circulating. This was an opportunistic crime.”
Bikers will meet at McDonald’s at N1 City this morning and at 8am they will ride to the city centre to attend the first court appearance of the suspect.
“There will be another ride for her funeral, but we will be going to court to call for bail to be denied,” he says.