Axe killing arrest: Henri van Breda hands himself in

The shockwave after the gruesome Van Breda triple murder on a luxury estate in Stellenbosch 18 months ago rippled out as far as the UK and Australia.

However, few are surprised by the news that Henri van Breda - younger brother of victim Rudi and son of Teresa and Martin, also killed - has been arrested.

Henri's younger sister, Marli, survived the attack.

He handed himself over to Stellenbosch police yesterday.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said their investigation into the three murders and an attempted murder on the De Zalze estate in January 2015 "led to the arrest of a 21-year-old suspect this afternoon when he handed himself over to the Stellenbosch police".

The suspect was due to appear in court today.

Henri's lawyer, Lorinda van Niekerk, told The Times: "The police made arrangements so that Henri hands himself over and that is what he did this afternoon."

The family had lived in Australia for years and returned to South Africa just months before the murders.

Shortly after the murders, reports surfaced that Henri had taken four hours to contact emergency services and that his injuries had been self-inflicted.

Meanwhile, Marli spent months in hospital fighting for her life. She sustained serious head injuries and a severed jugular vein.

• Axe killings one year on: the riddle of Henri van BredaLittle has changed at the exclusive De Zalze golf estate in Stellenbosch in the year since an unsolved axe attack claimed the lives of three members of the Van Breda family. But there is one new rule: the surviving son, Henri, is allowed to enter only under strict conditions. 

Speaking from the UK, one of Rudi's closest friends, Sam Fearon, told The Times of the long wait for news of the arrest.

"It has been such a long time, but we haven't stopped thinking about it. We have been checking up once a week for news - any news," he said. Fearon said he was "not one bit surprised" at the news of Henri handing himself over.

"We always knew. It was just a matter of time," he said.

The family had considered every possible option, but always drew the same conclusion: "It could have been nobody else."

Fearon said the news did not give him closure, but it brings it nearer." "I want to hear a confession," he said, "and that will bring me true closure."

Henri had been strange as a child, he said.

• Van Breda axe murders rememberedToday is exactly a year since three members of the Van Breda family were axed to death in their upmarket home in Stellenbosch. 

"I was close to Rudi. We became friends when we were about 13 and Henri was 10. Marli was really little. Even back then, I just felt he wasn't right," he said. "He was shy and quiet and forever playing video games," he said.

The news had rekindled the memory of how devastating it was at the time.

It was a "huge shock and it hit me really hard", he said.

Meanwhile, for the residents of the De Zalze estate the news came as a relief.

Resident Eben Potgieter, who was head of the home owners' association at the time of the murders, said the residents felt "relieved" because they had been in the dark for more than a year, but felt nobody had broken into the estate.

"We've been asking questions regularly about what's taking so long.

"We always felt it was an isolated incident. We now feel exonerated but must wait for the trial."

He said residents were so worried when Marli's life hung in the balance.

"It will be very traumatic for her to finally hear what happened but at least she will know."

Family spokesman Ben Roodtman said: "The Van Bredas take note of the arrest."

The family's former neighbour and former sports commentator Martin Locke said: "It's been uppermost in people's minds since the day it happened.

"Everyone has been wondering why there has been no movement on it."

He said people were relieved it wasn't just "being swept under the carpet", and that Martin van Breda's two brothers had been desperate for closure.

In the intervening 18 months, many people had come to the house "just to see where it happened".