Cape Town – Grim details of the murder of Altecia Kortje and her seven-year-old daughter, Raynecia Kortje, allegedly at the hands of her estranged partner who was also the father of both of her children, were revealed at the Cape High Court last week during pretrial proceedings.
The State is set to prove that Ryan Kyle Smith, the nephew of alleged Sexy Boys gang boss, Jerome Booysen, murdered his daughter, Raynecia by throttling her and then drowning her in a wheelie bin filled with water and that he beat Kortje repeatedly with a fire extinguisher, choking her before stabbing her several times in June 2020 in Commerce Way, Belhar.
Smith is facing two counts of murder.
According to court papers referring to the indictment which is the list of charges, the State has said that the murders were premeditated nd required the minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
A trial date is yet to be made available.
In a two-page summary of the case, the State details the days leading up to the duo’s death and on the fatal day itself.
Kortje had made applications for a protection order during this period.
The State will present that Kortje had been in a long-term relationship with Smith and had two children with him.
Smith had worked as a caretaker at the Commerce Street, Belhar premises, and lived on the property while Kortje lived with her parents in Delft.
The State intends to prove that on June 5, 2020, Smith visited the Kortje home in Delft and took his two children with him.
The next day, June 6, Kortje went to the Belhar police station seeking advice and was advised to get a protection order.
The State said in further court papers that during that weekend, Smith and Kortje communicated via the cellphone where she had expressed her unhappiness and that she no longer wanted to be with the accused.
On Monday, June 8, Kortje visited a courthouse in pursuit of forms for the application of the protection order.
On the fatal day of June 9, Kortje left her home to fetch her children and when she arrived at Smith’s residence shortly after 4pm after having taken a taxi which the accused had arranged, she dressed her children and began packing their bags.
It was during this period that Smith allegedly took Raynecia to one of the rooms and began to throttle her and then drowned her in a wheelie bin filled with water,, court papers reveal.
When Kortje came searching for her child and entered the room, Smith is alleged to have beaten her on the head with a fire extinguisher and choked her and then stabbed her with a knife repeatedly.
When approached about her whereabouts, Smith allegedly fabricated a lie stating they had been engaged in an argument and that Kortje had left with the children, heading to the police station.
Kortje’s father later filed a missing person’s report.
The court papers stated: “On Friday, 12 June 2020, the accused gave the keys to the murder scene to a member of his family. The bodies were discovered and the accused was arrested.”
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Eric Ntabazalila said he was awaiting details of the next court date.