'It should have been me': shattered husband on murder of Yolandi Botes

12 May 2021 - 13:57 By iavan pijoos
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Yolandi Botes went missing on April 26 after getting into an e-hailing service vehicle at OR Tambo International Airport.
Yolandi Botes went missing on April 26 after getting into an e-hailing service vehicle at OR Tambo International Airport.
Image: Wietzue Botes via Facebook

The family of Yolandi Botes, whose body parts were found in the Vaal River, is pleading for help from anyone who can shed light on her brutal murder.

The 35-year-old went missing on April 26 after getting into an Uber e-hailing service vehicle at OR Tambo International Airport. She had travelled from George to Johannesburg.

In an interview with Pixie Pink, Botes’s sister Mariska Oosthuizen, an activist for abused women and children, said they became suspicious after not hearing anything from her.

Oosthuizen said Botes was very active in the family WhatsApp group she started and it was “weird” for her to go silent.

“We were very close and it was very weird that we didn’t hear anything from her,” she told Pink.

An Uber spokesperson commented: “We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic news. Our thoughts and hearts go out to the family. While there is nothing to suggest that this incident is Uber-related, our Law Enforcement Relations Team (LERT) are working closely with local authorities to support their investigation.”

Free State police later confirmed that Botes’s body parts were found last week in the Vaal River next to Villiers.

Police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele said a father and son fishing at a holiday resort next to river made the gruesome discovery. “The boy walked around and saw something in the water that looked like a part of a body.”

The police were called and it was confirmed to be a human foot. Police divers recovered a number of body parts.

“It is confirmed that the body is that of a woman that was reported missing in Brakpan on 26 April. The linkage could be made by a tattoo she had. It was confirmed that the body is that of Yolandi Botes,” said Makhele.

I can’t believe that the person who did this is able to sleep at night. Is it not bothering you?
Mariska Oosthuizen

Oosthuizen pleaded with South Africans to come forward if they had any information that could help to solve the case.

“My mother’s heart is broken in pieces, like all of us. I will never forget our mother’s cries. She was cut into pieces and it’s a reality and we have to face it.

“It is inhumane. I can’t believe that the person who did this is able to sleep at night. Is it not bothering you? If you eat or look at your own family doesn’t it bother you? It could have been your sister or your mother.

“I never knew that people could be so cruel and I never knew something like this could happen to us. What goes through one’s mind is how she had to beg and cry for help.

“I feel that her voice shouldn’t be silenced because she died in a horrific way,” she told Pink.

Botes’s husband Wietzue also shared the pain of picking up the pieces in posts on social media.

“My baby, I am shattered. I’m not lying, I’m battling here. I don’t know where to [go] from here, I don’t know if I can get up from here, I don’t know if I want to get up from here. I’ve just lost my whole world, I don’t think I can do this. RIP my baby, I am coming,” read a post from him on Facebook.

In a post four days ago, Wietzue shared several pictures of them and wrote: “I miss you so much, my baby. I know I have to pull myself together. But God knows that I can’t.”

Wietzue wrote on Tuesday: “I miss you so much today. I don’t know how I am going to make it through this. It should have rather been me.”

There has been speculation over whether Botes's death is linked to the discovery of a blood-soaked room at a lodge in Kempton Park — shortly before her body was found in the river.

TimesLIVE reported earlier that a receptionist at the lodge made the gruesome discovery last week when she went to find out why a guest who had booked the room had not checked out.

When she opened the door, she was greeted with a horror scene. The floors, bedding, tiles in the bathroom, hand basin and shower were streaked with blood.

No body was found in the room. The police are awaiting the outcome of DNA tests taken there.

TimesLIVE


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