THE son of Annatjie Stassen (78) and his girlfriend briefly appeared in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the elderly woman’s death.
Gideon Stassen (43) and Chantelle Justine Minnott’s (31) were not asked to plead and the case was remanded to Wednesday to give them time to get legal representation.
Stassen, who worked as a mechanical engineer at a water and sanitation department, and Minnott, who is originally from KwaNongoma in KZN, allegedly confessed to killing Stassen and dumping her body.
According to a statement released by the police on Monday, Stassen had been involved in an argument with his mother before she died. He pushed her and she fell on her head, Mtshali said. The incident happened at about 2pm.
The search for the missing grandmother came to a sad end on Sunday afternoon when her partially decomposed body was found in a Bronkhorstspruit veld, a week after her 78th birthday.
Annatjie Stassen was reported missing on Thursday last week after family and friends couldn’t get hold of her.
According to Kempton Park SAPS spokesperson, Capt Jethro Mtshali, her son told police he last saw her on Wednesday morning last week, getting into an unknown car. By the next day, police had opened a missing persons case and launched a massive manhunt to find Annatjie.
On Friday, Annatjie’s son allegedly made a chilling confession to the police: he and his girlfriend had killed his mother in their Spekboom Street home and dumped her body in Mpumalanga.
By Friday night the search team had travelled to Mpumalanga where various areas were searched, including Moloto Dam, but with no success. Mtshali said the two could not recall where they dumped the body.
On Sunday at about noon, a group of women, walking home from church, passed by an open veld and found a body. Family and friends were called to identify her body.
Meanwhile, the community took to Facebook to express their feelings towards the unfolding tragedy. Most people were angered and disappointed, with one even going as far as referring to Stassen and Minnott as “druggies”. One user even called for them to be denied bail and to get life sentences.
Annatjie was well-known in her community with many close friends.
