'He was our everything'‚ says #BlackMonday widow

“He was our breadwinner‚ he was our everything and they destroyed that for us. Our lives came to a halt‚ a shocking halt.”

Mariandra Heunis described on Monday how she was left widowed – a mother of four children – after her husband Johann was shot six times by robbers on their smallholding outside Pretoria.

In what she would later describe as a “night of blood” in an open letter about the ordeal‚ the couple were attacked while dozing in front of their television in October 2016.

She joined thousands of people who held protests around the country on Monday to highlight the scourge of farm murders.

Wearing black‚ holding one of her three daughters‚ she said: “He was shot six times in front of me and my eldest daughter who was six at the time. I have three little girls … and our little boy was born five days after the funeral.

“It’s a very hard road to be walking alone because now it’s just me‚ not my husband. He was our breadwinner‚ he was our everything and they destroyed that for us. Our lives came to a halt‚ a shocking halt.”

In her letter she described how one of her little daughters put up her hand‚ telling the robbers: “I’ve got money. Please take my money”. Just then‚ Johann who had already been shot‚ struggled to get up‚ pleading. It sounded as if he was crying. And then she heard the words‚ “Ah‚ just kill him brother”. Another shot rang out‚ hitting him between the eyes.

Heunis said that being part of the protest on Monday made her realise that “we are not alone”.

“It might be a lonely path to walk but it’s not alone. And that is very special for me and it’s special for my kids. That is why I brought them along today for them to see that we are not the only ones that this happens to‚ that there is more and there is a lot of sadness.

“Today was a message of hope because no amount of tears or hate or anger will change what happened. It won’t bring my husband back‚” she said.

Claudine van Wyk lost her father‚ uncle and aunt in a farm killing and said that it had taken two years to come to terms with their deaths and move forward.

“That is why I am here today … I want to use my voice to speak …. We are crying out to the president: President Zuma‚ what are you doing about this?”

She said it was important for all South Africans to stand together and speak out against farm killings.