patriarchal dynamics and jealousy<\/a>, with perpetrators restricting their partners\u2019 contact with family and monitoring their every move.<\/p>\nJantjies\u2019 59-year-old mother, who declined to be named, said the last time she had seen her \u201cbaby\u201d was on Wednesday afternoon when Jantjies \u2014 the youngest of four children \u2014 and Williams came to collect laundry from her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had such a nice chat. Stach went to her aunt to introduce Cerwynn to the family. He was very nice and polite to us and to her. When they left here, he even opened the car door for her and told her to drive while he sat in the front passenger seat. They were happy together, and he was truly kind to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours later, the couple, who had been dating for four months, were shot dead.<\/p>\n
Flashing police lights<\/p>\n
A relative arrived at the home of Jantjies\u2019 parents in Salt Lake at around 2am to inform them that \u201csomething had happened to Stach\u201d and that they needed to get dressed and go to Kariega immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we arrived, and I saw all the flashing police lights, I immediately knew something was wrong,\u201d said the grieving mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not even want to go inside. They told me Stach had been shot, but they would not let me go to the back. I knew my child and Cerwynn would never cause trouble. But then I saw the cars outside, and immediately the other man [Van Heerden] came to my mind. I knew immediately that only he would do something that would warrant the police to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments later, the family\u2019s worst fears were confirmed \u2014 Jantjies and Williams had been shot dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told my husband I cannot imagine my daughter being killed like this \u2014 so brutally. If she had died on duty or during a robbery, maybe the pain would have been easier to carry. But for my child to be killed out of jealousy, that is something I never expected,\u201d said Jantjies\u2019 mother.<\/p>\n
\u2018Madly in love\u2019<\/p>\n
Family members said Jantjies and Williams were \u201cmadly in love\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jantjies\u2019 sister Genevive Marcus (38) said, \u201cThe two of them were in an official relationship. He was the one she brought home to introduce to my mother and father. They had been dating for four months.<\/p>\n
\u201cStach started drifting away from us when she was with the older guy. But when she broke things off with him and met Cerwynn, it was almost as if he brought her back to us. I did not really have contact with her before that, but when Cerwynn came into the picture, he made sure we all rebuilt a bond with her again. He brought her back to my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus said her sister was a \u201cdeeply religious person. Stach loved music, especially gospel music, and would play it whenever she was doing chores around the house. Stach kept to herself; she was quiet and did not have a large circle of friends. People respected her, and she also had a great deal of respect for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jantjies\u2019 mother will celebrate her 60th birthday on 16 May \u2014 a milestone that should have been marked by joy and celebration, but instead will be the day she lays her daughter to rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy birthday will never be the same again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gunshots<\/p>\n
Police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said officers were dispatched to Jantjies\u2019 flat shortly before 1am on Thursday after receiving reports of gunshots.<\/p>\n
\u201cUpon arrival at the scene, responding officers found three constables with multiple gunshot wounds. All three members were declared dead; two at the scene, and the third after being transported to Cuyler Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreliminary investigation suggests that a male constable, who was the former boyfriend of a female constable, forced entry into the residence where she and another male constable were present. Witnesses reported hearing shots fired, after which all three members sustained fatal injuries,\u201d said Gantana.<\/p>\n
The Eastern Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Vuyisile Ncata, extended his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a tragic and devastating loss for the SAPS family. Three young officers have lost their lives under heartbreaking circumstances. We are providing trauma debriefing and counselling to all members affected, and we will ensure the families receive the support they need during this difficult time,\u201d he said. DM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday afternoon, Stach Jantjies visited her mother in Gqeberha to collect her laundry. Her new boyfriend opened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[1235,111318,7540,1180,43089,114326,14471,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-224501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-gqeberha","9":"tag-kariega","10":"tag-kyran-blaauw","11":"tag-murder","12":"tag-murder-suicide","13":"tag-police-killings","14":"tag-police-violence","15":"tag-south-africa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116537748530751698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}