Krugersdorp murders: House was ‘moving like jello’ after blasts‚ witness tells court

Despite finding their vehicles doused in petrol during a mid-week gathering‚ members of the Overcomers Through Christ church in Krugersdorp were 'overjoyed' because they believed they had stopped the attackers from carrying out their plans‚ a former member of the church told the High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"We felt joyous at that point. We felt victorious that we had stopped that attack. The general feeling of the night was that we were victorious‚" said Annamarie Scholtz‚ who added that following this‚ they all went inside her home and had coffee.

She was testifying in the trial of Cecilia Steyn‚ 37‚ Zac Valentine‚ 33‚ and Marcel Steyn‚ 20, who are believed to have been behind this attack and 11 murders which occurred in the Krugersdorp area.

The accused have pleaded not guilty to 32 counts‚ including murder‚ robbery with aggravating circumstances and fraud.

Marcel’s mother - former high school teacher Marinda Steyn‚ a friend of Cecelia’s - was sentenced to 11 life terms for the Krugersdorp murder spree‚ after entering into a plea agreement.

Marinda’s son‚ Le Roux Steyn‚ is serving an effective 25-year prison term and has testified against the three remaining accused in the dock.

Scholtz told the court that she and her husband had opened up their home for the Wednesday meetings after two congregants were attacked outside the apartment of Ria Grunewald‚ who had introduced her to the church.

On July 4‚ during their second meeting at her home‚ she noticed something odd in the driveway where the other congregants had parked their cars.

One of the church members‚ Sanmarie Volbrecht‚ had left her lights on. She claimed to have informed her of this but Volbrecht said the lights would automatically switch themselves off.

A short while later‚ however‚ she noticed that the lights were still on. Both women decided to walk to the car to check.

"I could smell petrol‚" Scholtz testified. "I said [to Volbrecht] that either it was a leakage or someone had just filled up [their petrol tank]. As we walked to her car‚ the smell was stronger. I started walking towards the car to see if I could see anything suspicious. She started to pray and I prayed as well‚" Scholtz said.

She decided to turn back to the house to go and search for a flashlight‚ leaving Volbrecht behind.

"[Volbrecht] started to scream and the other members ran towards her. She said she had seen people jump out of the yard‚" Scholtz said.

The members searched the cars and found that several of their cars had been doused in petrol.

The next week however‚ the attackers returned and this time‚ they managed to carry out their acts.

Scholtz said before the meeting had started‚ she and the other church members had decided to do a prayer walk around her yard.

"We sealed [the house] off and asked for angels to protect the house. We did the prayer walk and settled in the lapa. There were no other children that night so I had my child with me‚" said Scholtz.

Shortly after they had started their meeting‚ they heard a series of explosions.

"I was sitting on the edge of lapa and I heard the bombs. I looked at the house and I saw it was moving like jello‚" she said.

The blasts were so loud that they were heard across the neighbourhood and left several of the congregants’ vehicles damaged.

When the last of the damaged cars were removed‚ Scholtz said she cleaned up the area‚ filling the craters in her yard with soil.

She had found cans and nails around the yard where the bombs had exploded.

Scholtz said after this incident she and her husband had decided to leave the ministry.

Besides the bomb‚ Scholtz said she had received threats via sms and BBM messages which had left her traumatised.

"I told Ria that I am withdrawing from the ministry for the sake of our well-being and my child. I told her our house would no longer be available and I did not attend any further meetings after that‚" she said.

The trial continues.