The widow of a Leeufontein man killed in a brutal farm attack has turned tragedy into triumph and become a business owner after she was inspired by planning her husband’s funeral.
“I’m doing it for him and the kids because he died for us,” Mariandra Heunis told Rekord.
Heunis explained that she was now assisting other people who lost their loved ones plan their funerals.
“I’ve now found my calling.”
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The widow, who was 36 weeks pregnant with her fourth child at the time of her husband Johann’s murder, said she started working just six weeks after his death as the family’s breadwinner had passed away.
She said it had been “very, very tough” raising their now two-year-old son.
“It’s hard doing it all alone because now I have to be mommy and daddy,” Heunis said.
She added her eldest daughter who witnessed her father’s murder was starting to recover now.
In 2018, a social media brouhaha erupted when Heunis posted a video in which she told the story of her husband’s murder after president Cyril Ramaphosa had told media in New York that “there were no farm attacks happening in South Africa”.
But among the outpouring of support, there was also criticism for the video.
Heunis told the story again early last year when AfriForum deputy CEO Ernst Roets launched his book Kill the Boer.
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At the time, she told the media her husband and her then six-year-old daughter awoke to two armed suspects in their home.
“They demanded money and we told them we didn’t have any. They shot my husband five times in front of me and my daughter. When my daughter offered them the money from her piggy bank, my husband got up one last time and pleaded with them to leave,” said Heunis.
It was at this time that one of the attackers told the other “just kill him brother” and Johann was shot in the head.
Heunis said after her son was born at Unitas hospital, the family of five moved to Centurion.
ALSO READ: VIDEO: North farm attack survivor’s message to Ramaphosa, USA
Although she’s had “no feedback” from the government, she said she received plenty of feedback from international entities.
“I’m also involved in creating awareness around farm attacks,” Heunis said.
She said she was also pleased that a suspect in her husband’s murder had been arrested.
“I testified in the Pretoria High Court in the first week of December,” she added.
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