News that made headlines in Moot this year
The Moot community were rocked by some of the most violent crimes and tragic stories in 2021.
As the year draws to an end, Rekord takes a look at the stories that shaped and changed the Moot area.
The Moot community were rocked by some of the most violent crimes and tragic stories in 2021.
Of the most brutal murders the Moot witnessed, was that of Evelyn de Kock, Dr Freddie Malan and Maria Sithole.
– Body found next to railway line
In January, a Moot resident made a grisly discovery in Kilnerpark when he went to investigate what he presumed to be cables being stolen. Instead he found an already decomposing body buried in a ditch.
Villieria resident John Dreyer received information from residents that they had heard noises from the railway line, and presumed that cables were being stolen across from Matterson and Slater streets.
According to Dreyer, suspected cable thieves were busy digging holes in the same spot.
“I went out to the scene and found where the ditches were dug and cables were cut.
“While taking photos of the ditches, I noticed the smell of rotten meat. I walked closer to investigate and saw that one of the ditches were filled with cement tiles and soil,” he said.
“A head-shaped piece of cloth was sticking halfway out of the ground.
“At first, I thought it might be a few pieces of meat that were left after a meal, but on closer inspection there were a few hints that it might be a buried body,” explained Dreyer.
Kilnerpark Security (KPS) and Villieria police members were summoned to the scene.
It was confirmed that it was a body that was buried in the ditch that had already started decomposing.
– Murdered Moot domestic worker remembered as a ‘caring soul’
A mother of three was brutally murdered during a house robbery in Rietfontein in the Moot in May.
Domestic worker Maria Sithole (47) was shot in the head after two men gained access to her employer’s house on the corner of 28th Avenue and Louis Trichardt Street.
Owner Daniel Wyser (60) was tied up in the bathroom where he was shot behind his ear.
He was airlifted to Milpark hospital in Johannesburg.
Sithole, who has worked for Wyser for two years and three months, was found dead in one of the bedrooms.
Wyser’s vehicle, two guns from the safe and a golden pocket watch, which he inherited from his godfather, were stolen.
– Father and son on murder rap in court
A man and his 17-year-old son, who are facing murder charges after a man was killed in a bar in the Moot, briefly appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court in May.
Peet Rossouw (45) died after he was allegedly assaulted during an altercation at the Rhino Inn pub in Codonia Road, Waverley, on Sunday, February 28.
The 45-year-old was hit on the ear from behind by one of his assailants.
“He fell to the floor and another suspect assaulted him further,” Villieria police spokesperson Warrant Officer Marinda Austin said.
Rossouw was later declared dead on the scene.
– Moot community bids farewell to hero doctor Loots
The memorial service for beloved doctor and hero in the Moot, Dr Delene Loots, was held at Doxa Deo Moot in Ben Swart Street in Môregloed in April.
Dr Delene Loots suddenly passed away in March and would have celebrated her 60th birthday on September 5.
– Community mourns death of their ‘Father Christmas’
The Moot’s most beloved Father Christmas, Robbie Salmon (69), sadly passed away due to Covid-19 related issues, in July.
Salmon would have celebrated his 70th birthday in August this year.
He was the gentle giant behind the annual Christmas drive project as the face of Santa Claus.
– Eersterust family in mourning after son killed in cold blood
An Eersterust family is devastated after their eldest son, Grant Hendricks, was killed in cold blood in August.
The 41-year-old’s body was found dumped in Mamelodi “as if he was thrown away like a piece of rubbish”, the family told Rekord.
The Hendricks family firmly believe that their son was killed on the evening of Sunday, July 11, but they are struggling to put the puzzle pieces together. They have a lot of unanswered questions about the circumstances of his death.
According to the family, he was shot in the back of the head and he was badly assaulted.
“We went to Grant just after 18:00 on Sunday. He talked and offered us soft drinks, but he could not look us in the eye,” said his mother, Sandra.
The family suspects that he was killed in Eersterust.
– Man gets 15 years for death of ‘beloved’ Eersterust resident
Clayton Andrews (51) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering Evelyn de Kock (43) in Eersterust.
Andrews pleaded guilty in October after fatally stabbing De Kock at their outbuilding on Robert Jones Avenue in Eersterust last year.
According to Andrews, he and his partner (De Kock) argued on the evening of June 13.
The following day, Andrews saw she was dead. He then changed his clothes, left the knife on the bed and took a minibus taxi to Johannesburg.
He was later found by police where he was hiding out in Eldorado Park and was arrested.
De Kock’s sister, Charlotte Peters, said the family has been going through hell for the past year.
“I cannot describe what we have been through in the past year.
“Our hearts are hurting.
“Maybe we can find peace for the first time now and hopefully we can start the healing process,” Peters said.
– Woman gets 40 years for the murder of Moot vet
Linda Samantha Carolina Venter (29), was convicted to 40 years’ direct imprisonment for business robbery and the fatal shooting of the owner of the Jakaranda animal hospital in Villieria, Dr Freddie Malan.
Pretoria Moot police have welcomed the heavy sentence, handed down by the Johannesburg High Court.
Malan was shot and killed at his practice during a business robbery on January 31, 2019, in the Moot.
Venter entered the practice and claimed to have a sick pet. When the door was opened for her, she kept the gate open for her three male accomplices.
They held the staff members and a customer inside the practice at gunpoint and robbed the practice and the customer of equipment and personal belongings.
During the robbery, Malan was shot and killed by one of the robbers.
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