Police believe murder accused preyed on soft target

MBOMBELA – Police believe the three people accused of the robbery and brutal murder of Hetta Potgieter (85) were opportunists on the hunt for a soft target.

John du Plooy (26), Shaun Oosthuizen (38) and Maryna Mandy Vorster (48) appeared briefly in the Nelspruit District Court on charges of murder and house robbery on Monday morning.

Potgieter was murdered last Sunday in her flat at Macadamia Care Centre.

Her body was discovered the following morning on the bathroom floor. Her hands were tied behind her back.

Police spokesman and investigating officer, Lt Col Erhard Stroh, said the coroner on the scene said the cause of death was suffocation.

“There was some form of clothing stuffed inside her mouth and a bit down her throat, which we suspect caused her to suffocate. The sanitary towel was put over her mouth. Her nose was bleeding and she had sustained bruises all over her face,” he told Lowvelder.

According to the charge sheet, R10 000 cash, which Potgieter had to pay her accounts, and a house key were stolen.

Du Plooy, Oosthuizen and Vorster were arrested after an intensive week-long investigation by police and Bossies Community Justice.

Stroh said on the Sunday the accused had first gone to SAVF Herfsakker Old Age Home.

“The security guard there let them in. They attempted to get into one of the apartments but because it was busy, they were unable to. This is when they moved on to Macadamia Care Centre,” he said.
Security cameras recorded the three entering the centre at 12:07.

According to a reliable source they knocked on a few doors, requesting to use the bathroom.

“We suspect this is how they got inside Potgieter’s flat,” said Stroh.

After monitoring CCTV footage of the three, Stroh tracked them across the country to a caravan park and camping site called Lover’s Rock Family Resort, near Magaliesburg. He arrested them there on Friday afternoon.

The three hail from Munsieville, a squatter camp just outside Krugersdorp.

Pogieter’s granddaughter, Riëtte Mostert, was also present in court and visibly upset. “We are relieved they have been caught, but it is not going to bring her back.”

The matter was postponed until July 23 for a formal bail application.