[imagesource: Johannes and Marietha Willemse, supplied to Germiston City News]

Marietha Willemse, 79, was stabbed to death in her home at the exclusive golfing estate Pinnacle Point in Mossel Bay on June 3.

Family members believe she was stabbed in the neck by a suspect, Seabata Clementi Kholoane, who was released on a warning by the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stealing a laptop three days prior to the murder.

This strange decision by the court was made despite there being two warrants of arrest out for Kholoane after he skipped court appearances for his various crimes.

Marietha’s husband, Johannes, 86, was badly injured in the attack but survived. He was described in June as “the most vulnerable of the two” by the family attorney, Llewelyn Curlewis, per Germiston City News.

The couple’s daughter, Mia Heuer, who lived next door to her parents but was away on honeymoon during the attack, says her father is in a dementia facility in George now because “he can’t sleep, and when he does he has nightmares”.

She added that when he closes his eyes he says he can hear the stabbings. TimesLIVE also reported that she is fuming at what she says was negligence by law enforcement and the courts:

“How could they release him after arresting him for the stolen laptop? Kholoane is an undocumented foreigner and police investigators told us he is a wanted fugitive. If they hadn’t released him, my mother would still be alive.”

Curlewis mentioned that one of the reasons the elder couple moved to the estate on the sea was that “they wanted to be in one of the best security estates in the country”.

Image: Johannes and Marietha Willemse, supplied to Germiston City News

Authorities have confirmed that Kholoane, 40, from Lesotho, was working without a permit doing maintenance work at the golf estate. Police have connected fingerprints from the murder scene to Kholoane.

He was wanted for a 2012 robbery in Bloemfontein and a 2020 Eastern Cape theft case. Both times, he was released on warning and absconded, prompting warrants to be issued for his arrest.

Authorities also seemed to have missed two critical pieces to the puzzle while investigating the murder scene shortly after the crime was committed.

The family handed the house over to the police forensics unit after the murder:

“They had the house and my parents’ Audi for four and a half days. After they were finished we hired a professional crime scene cleaning company to clear the house,” [Heuer] said.

“The cleaning company found a bloody crowbar, suspected to have been used to gain access. How police forensics missed this I wouldn’t know.”

On top of that misstep, a bloody knife, believed to be the murder weapon, was discovered in the couple’s Audi a month later at a car dealership asked to sell the car for the family.

Western Cape NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila did not comment on why Kholoane had been released on warning for the stolen laptop.

[sources:timeslive&germistoncitynews]