Amy’Leigh still haunted by kidnap
Amy’Leigh de Jager is excited for Christmas but she’s still struggling to adjust after her traumatic kidnap ordeal
THERE are still a few weeks to go before Christmas but the festive atmosphere is already tangible in the De Jager family home in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng. A huge Christmas tree has pride of place in a corner of the lounge and although there are no gifts under the tree yet, Amy’Leigh (6) and her brother, Jayden (4), have already written their letters to Santa and put them in their Christmas stockings.
It’s hard to believe this is the same house where there was so much grief and anxiety just a few months ago. Now it’s all go-go-go for Christmas. “The kids got home from school one day and were hanging around, bored. So we decided to put up the Christmas tree,” mom Angeline (26) says.
After the traumatic events that played out three months ago when Amy’Leigh was kidnapped outside her school, the young mom thought her family deserved some light-heartedness. And it seems to be lifting spirits in the household just as she hoped.
Amy’Leigh skips into the room and takes her letter to Santa out of her stocking.
“I really want this doll,” she says, pointing to a picture she cut out of a magazine
Aand stuck onto the page. At the top, she’s written her name in wonky letters.
There are also pictures of a kitchen set for a doll’s house and a jar of Nutella spread to satisfy her sweet tooth.
But despite the festive atmosphere and the prospect of the long summer holiday ahead, the emotional scars still linger.
MY’LEIGH runs outside where storm clouds are brewing in the distance. A moment later she’s back with a pink rose.
“This is for Mommy,” she says. Angeline hugs her and kisses her on the forehead.
Then the little girl skips over to the Christmas tree and puts the rose among the other decorations on the branches before she and her little brother go to her room to play.
“Amy’Leigh’s not doing well,” Angeline reveals once her daughter has left the room.
“She still has nightmares. She cries in her sleep and sometimes dreams of her kidnappers.
“She used to dream of unicorns and butterflies – unicorns are her favourite.
But she doesn’t dream of them anymore.”
Angeline and her husband, Wynand (27), are still trying to understand why a group of people would put their child through such an ordeal.
On 2 September, Amy’Leigh was snatched in front of Laerskool Kollegepark in Vanderbijlpark. She was grabbed from her mom and shoved into a Toyota Fortuner.
A huge manhunt followed and at one point the kidnappers demanded a ransom of R2 million. Finally, 19 hours after she was grabbed, the little girl was dropped off in a street in Vanderbijlpark, where two passersby found her and took her to the nearest police station. No ransom was paid. Her alleged kidnappers – Tharina Human (27), who’d been Jayden’s teacher, Laetitia Nel (40), Pieter van Zyl (50) and Bofokeng Molemohi (24) – were arrested not long afterwards.
“Amy’Leigh is terrified the kidnappers will be released from prison,” Angeline says. “She refers to them as crooks.”
But Wynand, a teacher, has a way of comforting his daughter.
“I tell her the crooks are working hard all day in the prison garden,” he tells us.
‘I’ll never forgive them. They can cry as much as they want’
“And at the end of the day they’re too tired to try to escape.”
The couple say Amy’Leigh often relives the day of the kidnapping.
Wynand recalls a distressing scene that played out one day when they went to buy potatoes for a restaurant his father owns in Vanderbijlpark.
“Amy’Leigh was sitting in the back seat and I told the workers they could put the bags of potatoes next to her,” he says. “Next thing she became hysterical and climbed over to the front seat. She was crying and trembling uncontrollably.”
Clearly the sight of strangers brought back disturbing memories of her kidnapping nightmare.
Amy’Leigh also can’t stand seeing her dad smoke. “The kidnappers smoked in front of her and she gets hysterical when she sees her dad light up,” Angeline says.
These days, Amy’Leigh and her brother fight a lot.
“Jayden will tell her to shut up and Amy’Leigh will say that’s what the bad man told her and then they’re at each other’s throats.”
Angeline says they feel helpless sometimes. “The kids at school will ask her, ‘Aren’t you the girl who was kidnapped?’
“She doesn’t want to go to school and her teacher says she can see from Amy’Leigh’s schoolwork that she has a lot of pent-up rage.
“She used to be meticulous when colouring in, using light pencil strokes. These days, she presses down hard.”
The couple say their daughter has shown noticeable changes in behaviour.
“She acts like a teenager. She’ll have sudden outbursts of aggression and anger when she’s unable to convey her message. She’ll pinch you when she’s frustrated and then she’ll start crying.”
But Angeline and Wynand are confident this will pass.
“I know our child will get through this and be stronger than ever,” her mom says. “She’s seeing a state social worker.
“The trial is like a mountain in front of us.”
“We really want her to start living a normal life again. And if something’s upsetting her, we try to establish exactly what it is so we can handle the situation differently the next time.”
AS FOR the accused kidnappers, Tharina – allegedly the mastermind behind the kidnapping and a former friend of the De Jagers – will be spending Christmas and New Year’s in prison, as will Pieter and Bofokeng. Laetitia has been granted bail. The accused will appear in court again on 9 January 2020, when a trial date will be set. “I’m not angry at them anymore,” Angeline says. “I’m more disappointed. Tharina knew my child well. She was aware how sensitive Amy’Leigh is. She slept with her own child in her arms until the night of the kidnapping and she put my poor baby girl through so much trauma.”
Wynand feels differently. “I’ll never forgive them. They can cry as much as they want in court. I’m sitting with a child who cries every day,” he says.
Amy’Leigh brings over a book with a fluffy kitten on the cover and asks us to read it to her. She makes herself comfortable on the couch and listens attentively to the story of the little girl whose kitten, Jasmine, goes missing.
Little Jayden joins her on the couch. Before we get to the end of the story, Amy’Leigh yells excitedly, “I know Jasmine will be found. Jesus knows where she is.”