Amy'Leigh kidnap suspects set to apply for bail

19 September 2019 - 09:02 By IAVAN PIJOOS
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The Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court will today begin hearing bail applications by the three suspects arrested in connection with the kidnapping of Amy'Leigh de Jager, 6. The three accused are Tharina Human (pictured), Letitia Nel and Pieter van Zyl.
The Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court will today begin hearing bail applications by the three suspects arrested in connection with the kidnapping of Amy'Leigh de Jager, 6. The three accused are Tharina Human (pictured), Letitia Nel and Pieter van Zyl.
Image: Tharina Human via Facebook

Vanderbijlpark preschool teacher Tharina Human and two co-accused are due to appear in the magistrate's court on Thursday to make bail applications after being arrested in connection with the kidnapping of Amy'Leigh de Jager, 6.

Human, 27, Laetitia Nel, 40, and Pieter van Zyl, 50, all of Vanderbijlpark, have been in custody since their arrest shortly after Amy'Leigh's safe return to her family..

Amy’Leigh's parents Wynand and Angeline de Jager arrived at court early. They were initially seated in the front row of the courtroom, making small talk while waiting for proceedings to begin.

The couple later moved to the second row, shielding their faces behind other family members.

Christo de Jager, the grandfather of Amy’Leigh, has also arrived at court and had taken a seat in the second row next to her parents. 

Riaan Botha, the father of one of the accused, Tharina Human, was also spotted in the gallery.

The court is on Thursday expected to first hear an application brought by Media24 to have proceedings livestreamed.

The trio's alleged kidnap and ransom scheme was set in motion when four men grabbed the grade R pupil from her mother, Angeline, outside the gates of Laerskool Kollegepark. They bundled her into a white Toyota Fortuner before speeding off.

Police, private security firms and the community of Vanderbijlpark scrambled to block exits to the town in the wake of her snatching, shortly before her father, Wynand, received the chilling ransom demand.

Police hostage negotiators, in brokering her safe return, bartered down the ransom demand from R2m to just R6,000 before the little girl was found wandering the streets of Vanderbijlpark in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Sunday Times reported that the hysterical child was found by a couple, Hendrik Breedt and Savannah Kriel, who were making their way home from a neighbourhood pub. Their discovery brought the hostage drama to an end.

Human is the prime suspect: She was employed by the school, teaching Amy’Leigh’s brother, Jayden, 5, and was “best friends” with the children’s mother.

At their previous court appearance, she was supported by her father. Outside court, Botha said he had visited his daughter in prison and had been hoping for her release from custody then. But: "I was prepared that should it not happen, I leave it to God, because he has the last say."


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