A witness to a murder case who was shot dead outside the Lenasia magistrate's court on Tuesday was always fearful when he had to go to court and was not under any witness protection programme, his family has revealed.
The family of Ashwin Mouwers, 33, said he often told them he didn't feel safe whenever he attended the hearings of the murder case in which he was going to testify before he was killed.
He was a pastor, ordained in 2022, and was also a general worker at Eldomaine High School in Eldorado Park — a job he started a year ago.
Mouwers witnessed an incident in which Clejean Steffensen, 24, was allegedly killed during a hit-and-run in August 2021 after a heated argument with the then-boyfriend of Steffensen's sister.
Mouwers's devastated older sister, Nicolette Maitland, 43, couldn't contain her tears during the interview with TimesLIVE Premium, only repeatedly stressing that she wants justice for her younger brother.
“I am devastated. He wasn't a gangster. He was a churchgoing guy, he was God's man — and I want justice. I want justice for my little brother. He used to take young drug addicts to church. He even forced [some of] them to go to church,” she said.
On Tuesday, as usual, Mouwers, with the mother of Clejean, Delmaine Steffensen, and another witness to the 2021 murder incident, travelled together to court.
When they arrived at the entrance of the Lenasia magistrate's court, they found the accused sitting outside — which was unusual, as they usually either found him inside the court or he would arrive late, when they are already inside.
“There is no protection for them,” said Nicolette. “They [police] don't even pick them up from home on the day of the court. But he felt that he was doing the right thing.”
Ashwin's older brother, Victor Maitland, said his younger brother always told him the night before that he would be going to court and they would pray — but this time he didn't say anything about going to court.
“For the first time, he never said anything about the case, while he used to tell me on the night before,” said Victor.
“He used to come to me and say, 'I don't feel safe.' Whenever he [went] to court, he complained that he didn't feel safe. He also used to tell me that because there are summonses, he was afraid that if he didn't go they would take out a warrant of arrest against him.”
The family advised him to speak to the investigating officer about how he felt — and that he had to take a day off from work whenever he went to court, which kept on being postponed.
Delmaine Steffensen, whose child was allegedly run over by the person on trial, said Ashwin's last words were: “Can you see now?”
She said when they arrived in court she was walking slowly, while Ashwin and the other witness were walking behind her. The shooting happened shortly after their arrival at court. She said she initially thought it was firecrackers when she heard the sound of a gunshot and saw the other witness running.
“I froze and saw two guys, and they pointed at Ashwin's head — and that's when I realised that we were in trouble. Then they shot him, right in front of me,” she said.
“They didn't try to shoot me. I froze. It was two young boys, and I thought it was firecrackers. I didn't look at their faces properly, I just saw the gun on Ashwin's head, and he said to me, 'Can you see now? Can you see now?' Those were his last words.”
She said security guards were calling her to run towards the entrance but she was in shock and couldn't immediately move. When she saw blood oozing from Ashwin's head and realised he had been shot, she ran inside the court.
“Ashwin was the only one who stood by me since day 1. I even asked him, 'Are you not scared of these boys?' And he said no. He went with me religiously to court, all the time.”
The case had been postponed regularly since it started almost three years ago, Steffensen said.
She said the accused in her son's murder had been dating her daughter.
“My son used to fight with him in the streets for [allegedly] abusing my daughter,” she added.
Gauteng police are investigating a case of murder and attempted murder in connection with the court shooting.
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