Woman survives tragedy only to be ripped off
● Trying to settle the most painful period in her life has instead heaped even more anguish on a Benoni-born woman.
Sonia van der Merwe’s entire family — her parents, brother and sister-in-law — were murdered near Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga in 2004. One of their killers was a trusted employee of the family business.
Seven years later, in 2011, Van der Merwe sold the family business, intending to make a new start in Australia.
But, despite a court order in her favour, she now finds herself in a protracted fight to get Jaco Fourie, who bought the business, to pay up.
In court papers, Van der Merwe said she sold the business for R4.5m and Fourie made an initial payment of R2m. He made arrangements to pay the outstanding amount in two instalments, but never did.
Fourie also changed the name of the business, making it impossible for Van der Merwe to claim it back.
The high court in Pretoria last month ruled in favour of Van der Merwe, ordering Fourie to pay all outstanding money, with interest.
In her judgment, judge Nomsa Khumalo described Van der Merwe as “honest and unwavering” in her testimony.
Fourie, who declined to speak to the Sunday Times or give details of his lawyers, is appealing the court ruling. “I cannot talk about this matter right now because it is still sub judice,” he said before ending the call.
Van der Merwe said when she sold the business, Legion Lock & Cable, which specialised in computer accessories, she thought her family’s legacy would continue.
“Life has not been easy for me, even after all these years. Their murders left a huge hole in my life,” Van der Merwe — who now lives on Australia’s Gold Coast — told the Sunday Times.
The killers, Vincent Khubeka, Themba Radebe, Lucky Mbalati and Clement Makua, were sentenced to an effective 240 years in jail on 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, rape and robbery. Khubeka died in jail.
Van der Merwe recalled the day her family was ripped from her.
“Vincent and Themba went to my brother Darryl’s house that Sunday morning and pulled guns on him and his wife Melissa. They then forced my brother to call my parents, Frans and Gina, to come to his house and also held them hostage.”
Then followed 17 hours of torture.
“They fed them rat poison. My mother and Melissa were also raped. At midnight, they loaded them into two vehicles then drove to Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga where they shot and dumped them.”
On the Monday morning, Khubeka reported for duty as usual.
Police in Alexandra, Johannesburg, found the company vehicle abandoned and covered in blood, and the bodies were later found at Loskop Dam.
Khubeka was arrested after police found him in possession of Darryl’s cellphone.
An attempted robbery outside Van der Merwe’s son’s nursery school in 2011 prompted her decision to emigrate.
“It was gut-wrenching to give up everything I knew. I left with no clue of what I would do when I got there,” said Van der Merwe, who now works as a business broker for an international company.