Durban: The family of Naadira Vanker has welcomed the life sentence handed down to her killers in the Johannesburg High Court.
Vanker, 31, was a teacher at Progress Primary School in Lenasia.
On April 22, 2021, she was abducted from her flat in Lenasia, which she shared with her husband, Imraan Haider, and children aged 10, 7, 4, and 1.
At the time, her sister, Aabida Genner, said the two accused arrived at the home shortly after Haider left for work. Vanker and her two elder children were awake.
One suspect hit and punched her. Her seven-year-old son tried to stop them, but one of the suspects punched, kicked and choked him until he passed out.
Genner said Vanker's daughter also tried to stop the suspects. She was beaten to the point of being knocked out.
Minutes later, when she woke up, the men had left, and her mom was missing.
"Her one-year-old brother was lying on the bed bundled in blankets. He was crying. Her four-year-old brother was still asleep. She tried to wake up her seven-year-old brother, but he was unconscious," said Genner.
"She took her one-year-old brother and ran to her grandmother's home, which was in the same complex they lived in, to get help. When family members arrived at the home, Naadira's car was missing. The seven-year-old was on the floor with something stuffed in his mouth. None of the family's valuables were taken."
The family reported the incident to the police, and shortly after, a missing person's report was opened.
After a six-day search, Vanker's body was found on April 27, 2021, in a shallow grave at the home of Lucky Mshubi, 36, in Phumlamqashi, south of Lenasia.
He was dismissed from his job as a security guard at the complex Vanker and her family lived in after she complained about his behaviour on duty.
Mshubi and his co-accused Thabo Mambila, 31, were charged with murder, kidnapping, and robbery.
During sentencing, Elize Le Roux, a senior state advocate, argued that Vanker's four minor children would now have to grow up without a mother. She said that the killing was senseless, and the family had suffered indescribable trauma.
This week, Vanker's father, Ismail Genner, said he was at every court hearing and was thankful to the investigating officers for the swift arrest and convictions.
"We are happy justice has finally been served. It will never bring back our daughter, but it has eased how we feel.
"My daughter was good to him (Mshubi). She used to give him supper every night. This was a merciless killing. Her children are living with me and my wife. We have moved out of the complex into a house. Her older children witnessed what happened, and they had to undergo counselling to help them. It has been a difficult road."
Phindi Mjonondwane, the regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Gauteng, said: "On the day of her disappearance, Mohammed Genner (her brother), tried to call her and her phone was answered by an unknown person that demanded a ransom, saying otherwise someone would die."
Mjonondwane said the accused were sentenced to five years each for housebreaking with intent to commit crimes of robbery and kidnapping.
"They were also handed down 17 and 15 years, respectively, for robbery and four years each for kidnapping. Mshubi received a further two years for attempted extortion. The accused were both sentenced to six years each for defeating the ends of justice, and the sentences on housebreaking and kidnapping were ordered to run concurrently with the robbery."
The Post