Stop saying kids are lying: Joey Haarhoff’s daughter as brother jailed for rape

After surviving her own sexual abuse and the stigma that comes with being the daughter of Joey Haarhoff — the lover of serial killer and paedophile Gert van Rooyen — Amor van der Westhuizen, 59, was devastated to learn that her brother committed a similar crime in his adoptive country of New Zealand.

Braam Haarhoff, 52, was found guilty of molesting a young girl in Auckland, on January 19.

Two weeks ago he began his sentence of 13 years on eight charges, including rape of the child.

Van der Westhuizen, 59, told Sunday Times Daily of her reaction to the sentence.

“I wish he’d get a longer sentence. I was very upset when I heard what he did to that child.”

Van der Westhuizen attended the Manukau district court hearing when the girl testified.

People who do these things to children don’t realise the damage they do. He gets 13 years and she will have to live with the pain for the rest of her life.

—  Amor van der Westhuizen, 59, daughter of Joey Haarhoff

She said she felt it necessary to be there in support of the young girl, especially because she knew what the child was going through. 

“He received a 13-year sentence. He’s probably not going to sit there for the whole 13 years.

“People who do these things to children don’t realise the damage they do. He gets 13 years and she will have to live with the pain for the rest of her life.”

“I’m upset especially because he knows what happened to me. And he does it to someone else.”

She rejected the notion that her brother could have also been molested, as many perpetrators were victims too.

“No he was never abused. It was us four children, three boys and me. It was just me.”

Despite the horrific physical and sexual abuse she endured, Van der Westhuizen is able to speak with conviction, not allowing her past to destroy her future.

Living in Limpopo, she is a pastor, a business owner, a wife, mother and grandmother.

“I’m doing OK. I’ve healed a lot. My relationship with God is responsible for my healing. Writing the book helped a lot. I can handle these things now.”

Her book Battered, Abused, Shamed, authored by Carla van der Spuy and published in 2016, told the story of her own abuse at the hands of her mother and father and the hurt that came with the crimes of her mother and Van Rooyen.

Van Rooyen and Haarhoff were both divorcees when they began their relationship in 1988.

In her book, Van der Westhuizen said her mother became a heavy drinker.

By that time Van Rooyen had already served three of four years for the 1979 molestation of two girls aged 10 and 13.

The two were a deadly combination. Haarhoff became an accomplice to the rapes and murders of girls. Her role was procuring the children for his pleasure.

I decided I didn’t want to be the way my mom was with me. As a result I have a wonderful family. I look after my children and I have eight lovely grandchildren.

—  Amor van der Westhuizen

In her book Van der Westhuizen revealed she was also abused by younger family members.

“As children we never spoke about the abuse. It takes a long time for people to recover from it.

“I decided I didn’t want to be the way my mom was with me. As a result I have a wonderful family. I look after my children and I have eight lovely grandchildren.

“I struggled a lot raising my daughter — I was very protective of her. For the longest time I was convinced it would happen to her. But I got restored through God. I learnt to let go of those feelings because I did not want to attract that into my daughter’s life.”

She said she was not afraid to talk about what happened to her and what her brother did.

“People always say the child is lying. But the thing about the truth is that it never changes; a lie will always be told differently.

“I want people to know that they must get involved when they hear a child has been molested.”

When interviewed about her book in 2016, Van der Westhuisen said nobody believed her when she told them about her abuse.

She said listening to what her brother did to the girl brought a lot of the pain back.

“I wanted him to go to jail.”

She said watching the defence try to pick the girl apart as she testified in camera “was terrible”.

“People need to stop saying children are lying.”

Haarhoff began molesting the child when she was five. He was apprehended in 2018 and charged with unlawful sexual connection‚ attempted rape and indecent assault.

Van Rooyen and Joey Haarhoff are believed to have murdered at least six girls — Tracy-Lee Scott-Crossley‚ 14, Fiona Harvey‚ 12, Joan Horn‚ 12, Odette Boucher‚ 11, Anne-Marie Wapenaar‚ 12, and Yolanda Wessels‚ 13 — between 1988 and 1989.

Their bodies have never been found.

Facing arrest after their last victim Joan Booysen, 16, escaped, the couple committed suicide on January 15 1990.

Van Rooyen’s sons Flippie and Gerhard have also been in the news for misconduct.

In 1997 the Mail and Guardian reported that Flippie had received a life sentence for the rape, murder and disembowelment of a 16-year-old Zimbabwean girl.

In 2001 he was convicted of perjury for lying to police about the disappearance of the girls kidnapped by his father and Joey Haarhoff. He was paroled in 2008.

In 2017 eNCA reported Van Rooyen’s other son Gerhard was arrested with his wife for theft and fraud.