Courtney’s case transferred to high court

THE PARENTS of three-yearold Courtney Pieters, who was murdered and raped, said despite wanting the case “to just be over now”, they are relieved that it would go to the Western Cape High Court.

The State yesterday said the accused, Mortimer Saunders, would remain in custody until his next appearance in October.

“I feel disappointed because I don’t feel for this court case any more. It must just be over and done with now. He doesn’t feel anything for our pain. My child was innocent. Why did he have to take her?” Courtney’s mother, Juanita Pieters, said.

Asked whether she was happy with the progress of the case, Pieters said: “I’m happy it is going to the high court.”

Courtney’s father, Aaron Fourie, said the court proceedings were nerve-racking. “It gets on my nerves because every night I still go to bed with her in my mind. When I saw him in court, it looks like he doesn’t feel anything.”

Saunders will appear in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on October 6 again for the results of further investigations and an indictment.

State prosecutor Dandridge Neethling said they are waiting on “two more items to be added as part of the investigation”.

Neethling said the investigation was almost complete with DNA reports and witness statements already being filed.

Courtney went missing on May 4 from her Pluto Street home in Elsies River and was found dead in a field in Bofors Circle, Epping Industria.

Residents and supporters searched for the girl for nine days and found her lifeless body atop a rubbish heap.

Saunders, a childhood friend of Fourie, was a tenant at the family’s home for about three years and is said to have known Courtney since birth.