Johannesburg - South Africa’s university town, Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape is known for its scenic beauty and erudite academics and students who are destined for greatness.
However, on the dark side of this impressive and ideal getaway is a horrid reality of some of the murders and heinous crimes that have taken place in the town.
Someone who brings us closer to this reality is author and journalist Julian Jansen in his new offering, “Stellenbosch: Murder Town”.
He reminds us that even in Stellenbosch, where there are visions of luxury, wine farms, blue mountains and beautiful people, murder has reared its ugly head there.
Inge Lotz, Hannah Cornelius, Susan Rohde, Stephan Smith, the Van Breda family are some of the cases he covers in the book.
Jansen goes behind the headlines. With unprecedented access to police files and hours spent talking to victims’ friends and relatives, he reconstructs the full stories, revealing new details of some of the most controversial cases South Africa has known.
In 12 chapters, he shines his beam not only on the high-profile cases. He also tells of Felicity Cilliers, an unknown farmworker, murdered and forgotten.
He recounts crimes that were meticulously planned, while others seem to have happened in a moment of rage. A range of victims and murderers from across the social spectrum emerges in his grimly compelling true tales.
Five years ago in May, 21-year-old Hannah Cornelius’s body was found on the side of the road in Stellenbosch after the vehicle she was travelling in with a friend was hijacked.
Geraldo Parsons and Vernon Witbooi were the two ring-leaders of the crime.
In 2018 the Cape High court sentenced the men convicted of her rape and murder and the attempted murder of her friend, Cheslin Marsh, to a 115 years each with two life sentences.
Stellenbosch: Murder Town reads simply and also has images provided, providing more context for the reader.
- Julian Jansen is an author and award-winning investigative journalist. He is the author of bestselling books “The De Zalze Murders” and “Seuns Sonder Pa’s”. He lives in Strand, Cape Town. Stellenbosch: Murder Town is published by NB Publishers and is available at leading bookstores nationwide or online.