THE alleged killer of a single mother of two young girls denied that he planned her murder and robbed the company where she worked.
Clement Ramawele (25), a former employee of Trio Data Business Risk Consultants on Newton Street in Spartan, is accused of stabbing Anne-Marie van Zyl (32), his previous manager, to death on March 8. He also faces a charge of aggravated robbery.
Van Zyl was stabbed nine times while her two daughters, Tathiana (9) en Anjankè (6) were also in the office.
Const Dobby Sihlangu of Kempton Park SAPS earlier this week testified in the Johannesburg High Court, sitting in Palm Ridge, that he and his partner, Const Tinny Lehomela, were parked at a nearby store that morning.
He said they heard a woman screaming. They saw a bloody Van Zyl standing on the stairs while a man ran away from the scene. They chased the man in their bakkie and ordered him to give himself up. He refused and Sihlangu followed him on foot into a factory where he fired a warning shot at Ramawele.
Ramawele was eventually cornered in an office. He had a small red cash box with him and there was blood on his sleeves and shoes, Sihlangu told the court.
When they returned to the scene of the attack, the emergency services had arrived but Van Zyl was already dead. Ramawele showed him the knife on the floor with which he attacked Van Zyl, Sihlangu said.
A colleague of Van Zyl, Roxanne van Niekerk (24), testified that Van Zyl was not supposed to have worked the day of her death. However, they swapped shifts shortly before that dreadful day so Van Zyl could attend a function at her children’s school the following weekend.
Van Niekerk said Ramawele had worked for the company for about four months before resigning in January. His request to return to the company was later rejected by their head office.
