“Their home was awfully quiet and this is not how I know them to be. Normally the television will be playing‚ the air-conditioning will be on but on that day it was uncharacteristically quiet on the farm. They are not the kind of people to live in silence like that. They would be talking or laughing‚” said Payne.
A sombre sounding Schalk Van Niekerk‚ brother of Anisha Van Niekerk‚ was the second person to arrive on the farm.
“It is not in their nature to be so quiet and not communicate with the family. The Sunday when we didn’t hear from them we thought they may be sad over the passing of Joey’s father. By Monday when we still heard nothing from them we started to worry‚” said Schalk.
When Schalk arrived at the house he recalls seeing a toothbrush‚ a handbag and a cellphone. This was sign for him that they wouldn’t have left town without taking their essentials with them.
“We saw nothing out of order in the house because that was the first thing we looked for - whether someone had possibly broken into the house. Everything was in place‚ you could tell that they weren’t planning on going anywhere. Their toothbrush was still there‚ Anisha’s phone was still in the house. Joey’s handbag was still there. The house was locked‚” said Schalk.
One of the seven accused‚ rented a workshop on the farm which he operated his panel beating business from.
“I knew that my sister wanted to sell the farm. My sister did mention that she had a buyer and it was the guy renting the workshop from her. They wanted to finalise the sale of the property after the funeral of Joey’s father. What we found equally strange was that the moment we came into contact with him he told us that he paid for the property in cash to my sister. He told us this on Monday evening‚” said Schalk.
The seven men are accused of torturing and murdering the two women. They were kept in a container on one of the accused’s property before they were murdered. The container is situated on his property which is less than 10 kilometres from Joey and Anisha’s home‚ said Payne.
Payne reminisces how painfully quiet the festive season was without Joey and Anisha.
“They were social people‚ always laughing and talking and being friendly with everyone around them‚” he said.
Schalk said that his only wish is for the people responsible for the death of his sister and her wife to be dealt with by the law.
“My perspective on this - everyone has their own way of feeling about this - I was initially very mad when I heard of all the things that is being alleged‚ that they were tortured and raped before they were killed but I take solace in the fact that justice will prevail and that the accused will be dealt with by the law. At this stage nothing will give us the answers that we want as to why they were killed so brutally‚” said Schalk.
The seven accused appeared briefly in the Brits Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Over the weekend an eighth person was arrested in connection with the couple’s murder.
The case has been postponed till Thursday when the accused will apply for bail.
Seven suspects in custody over murdered Mooinooi couple
Image: FACEBOOK
Unpacked new shoes and the dead silence that hung over the North West farm was an indication for Kobus Payne that something was not right when he went to go look for Joey and Anisha Van Niekerk.
The missing Mooinooi couple as they have come to be known have graced many headlines over the weeks as family‚ friends and law enforcement officials searched high and low for them after they went missing in December on the eve of leaving for a funeral. Now seven people are charged with the disappearance and murder of Joey and Anisha.
Kobus Payne‚ the brother-in-law of Joey Van Niekerk‚ was the first person to arrive on the Van Nierkerk’s farm when the family hadn’t heard from the couple for 24 hours.
“When I arrived at the house‚ everything was still in its place and it was awfully quiet I knew that something wasn’t right‚” said Payne.
Joey’s father had passed away due to natural causes and they were set to leave for Pretoria on Monday December 11. They never arrived.
Payne said it was unlike Joey and Anisha to not be in contact with the family‚ especially given that Joey’s father had died and funeral arrangements had to be made.
Family confirms burnt body belongs to missing Durban woman Siam Lee
“Their home was awfully quiet and this is not how I know them to be. Normally the television will be playing‚ the air-conditioning will be on but on that day it was uncharacteristically quiet on the farm. They are not the kind of people to live in silence like that. They would be talking or laughing‚” said Payne.
A sombre sounding Schalk Van Niekerk‚ brother of Anisha Van Niekerk‚ was the second person to arrive on the farm.
“It is not in their nature to be so quiet and not communicate with the family. The Sunday when we didn’t hear from them we thought they may be sad over the passing of Joey’s father. By Monday when we still heard nothing from them we started to worry‚” said Schalk.
When Schalk arrived at the house he recalls seeing a toothbrush‚ a handbag and a cellphone. This was sign for him that they wouldn’t have left town without taking their essentials with them.
“We saw nothing out of order in the house because that was the first thing we looked for - whether someone had possibly broken into the house. Everything was in place‚ you could tell that they weren’t planning on going anywhere. Their toothbrush was still there‚ Anisha’s phone was still in the house. Joey’s handbag was still there. The house was locked‚” said Schalk.
One of the seven accused‚ rented a workshop on the farm which he operated his panel beating business from.
“I knew that my sister wanted to sell the farm. My sister did mention that she had a buyer and it was the guy renting the workshop from her. They wanted to finalise the sale of the property after the funeral of Joey’s father. What we found equally strange was that the moment we came into contact with him he told us that he paid for the property in cash to my sister. He told us this on Monday evening‚” said Schalk.
The seven men are accused of torturing and murdering the two women. They were kept in a container on one of the accused’s property before they were murdered. The container is situated on his property which is less than 10 kilometres from Joey and Anisha’s home‚ said Payne.
Payne reminisces how painfully quiet the festive season was without Joey and Anisha.
“They were social people‚ always laughing and talking and being friendly with everyone around them‚” he said.
Schalk said that his only wish is for the people responsible for the death of his sister and her wife to be dealt with by the law.
“My perspective on this - everyone has their own way of feeling about this - I was initially very mad when I heard of all the things that is being alleged‚ that they were tortured and raped before they were killed but I take solace in the fact that justice will prevail and that the accused will be dealt with by the law. At this stage nothing will give us the answers that we want as to why they were killed so brutally‚” said Schalk.
The seven accused appeared briefly in the Brits Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Over the weekend an eighth person was arrested in connection with the couple’s murder.
The case has been postponed till Thursday when the accused will apply for bail.
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