No end to Ina's agony

There appears to be no end to the suffering of Ina Bonnette, former wife and victim of the "Modimolle Monster", Johan Kotze.

Not only is she trying to cope with the trauma of a brutal gang rape and the murder of her 19-year-old son, but the blame for the gruesome attack has been placed squarely on her shoulders.

Both her previous husband, Rex Bonnette, and Kotze's advocate, Piet Greyling, have blamed the 43-year-old for the attack.

In a victim impact report, compiled for the state by a social worker, Bonnette's 17-year-old daughter, Angelique, was quoted as saying her father, Rex, harboured resentment towards his ex-wife as he tried to come to terms with the death of their son.

"Dad and I don't speak about my brother [Conrad]. Dad believes everything was my mother's fault," she said in the report that was read to the Pretoria High Court by state prosecutor Retha Meintjies, who is pushing for life sentences for all the accused.

Kotze, Andries Sithole, Pieta Mohlake and Sello Mphaka were on Monday found guilty of six charges relating to the assault of Bonnette. Kotze and Sithole were also found guilty of murdering her son.

Meintjies said yesterday both Bonnette and her daughter suffered short- and long-term consequences of the attack, which was carefully orchestrated by Kotze.

On January 3 last year he lured Bonnette - who had left him in 2011 - to his home in Church Street, Modimolle, saying there was a box of her things at the house. When she arrived there, she was met by Kotze. The other three men were hiding in a bathroom.

There were already ropes and cable ties on the bed on which they raped her. The three men wore nylon stockings, bought days before the attack, over their heads.

Bonnette was accosted by all four men, tied to the bed and repeatedly raped by Kotze's three accomplices.

Afterwards, Kotze penetrated her with various items.

He shot Conrad during the attack.

Arguing for aggravation of sentence, Meintjies quoted from the impact report, saying Bonnette and Angelique suffered physically and emotionally.

Bonnette suffered mentally from the humiliating nature of the attack, and emotionally due to the trauma of losing her son.

After the attack, she became withdrawn and lived in isolation from others, the victim impact report said. She suffered flashbacks and nightmares, and lived in constant fear.

On a long-term basis, Bonnette was suffering physical and emotional imbalances.

Sitting in the public gallery with a friend and her daughter, Bonnette was impassive while Meintjies spoke about the effects of the attack.

When Meintjies mentioned the effects on her daughter, however, she took out tissues and wiped tears from her face.

Quoting Angelique from the report, Meintjies said she suffered the loss of her brother, and her relationships in the Modimolle community were damaged.

"People around us don't know how to talk to us, because they know what happened but don't know how to handle it," she was quoted as saying.

Acting Judge Bert Bam said it was "logical" that the whole family was affected by the crime".

Greyling, arguing in mitigation of sentence, told the court yesterday that Kotze - who he said suffered from narcissistic deviances - was deeply hurt by Bonnette's rejection of him.

"Some of his problems literally came from his childhood days. He had been hurt, and built up certain mechanisms to cope," said Greyling.

"This whole problem came as a result of his relationship with Bonnette. He experienced an exaggerated form of rejection, to such an extent that it led to suicide attempts."

The attack, including the shooting of Conrad with a .22 rifle, was intended to harm Bonnette, Greyling said.

Kotze had attempted suicide on January 30, and in a suicide note said he had accepted that his life was destroyed, said the lawyer.

"His hurt in terms of Bonnette's behaviour towards him meant that it was the end of his life," he said.

Kotze seemed teary-eyed after court adjourned for the day. He turned and hugged and kissed three women who were supporting him in court. Then he turned to the media.

"I would definitely want to say something, but I don't want to make a sensation out of it," he said, adding he would speak after sentence was handed down today. "I have never looked for sensation."

Meintjies said Kotze had never shown anything but "self-pity".

But Greyling said Kotze had shown remorse on several occasions, especially in diary entries, and had been emotional while testifying.

Bam disagreed. "Did he ever testify about his remorse?" he snapped at Greyling: "Tell me about it."