Johanna Plaatjies’ daughter Normadene, 32, was allegedly stoned to death and stabbed in Akkerdraai Street in Voorbrug, Delft, near Cape Town on 9 November 2018. After waiting two years for justice, the trial was set to begin earlier this year, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 regulations. 

Normadene Plaatjies, 32, was allegedly stoned to death on 9 November 2018 in Voorbrug, Delft, Cape Town. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

The matter resumed last week and the two accused, both women, Soda Jacobs and Galvenieta Tafel, pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. However, Jacobs has admitted she stabbed Plaatjies, but didn’t mean to kill her.

A witness, Cheslyn Williams, said: “On the day of the murder I saw both the accused assaulting the victim. She fell to the ground and laid against a wall when the two accused stoned Normadene and assaulted her. The more Normadene tried to stop the stones with her hands, the more stones they threw on her until she gave in. They were like wolves around her.”

Luke Plaatjies, 14, son of Normadene Plaatjies, became withdrawn after the death of his mother. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

State witness Carol Jacobs shared a similar version in court. It was this chilling testimony that stunned Normadene’s mother.

She told Maverick Citizen, “I’m devastated. It felt like my heart had been ripped out. It is sad to think that my child was so brutally murdered and her life ended at such a young age.

“As a mother, I still find it hard to believe that my child was allegedly killed by two women. It is not easy to get over the shocking revelations and it will take time for me to deal with it. I hope to hear in court the reason why they killed my child.”

Norman Plaatjies, father of Normadene Plaatjies, says he is worried about her son, Luke. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

On the night of the murder on 9 November 2018, the mother, her husband Norman Plaatjies, 60, and Normadene’s son Luke, 16 at that time, were at home. A driver who had taken their badly injured child to hospital stopped at their house and told them: “Please rush to Delft Hospital – things don’t look good for your daughter.”

Normadene’s son Luke finds it difficult to express his feelings of anger and pain. “I’m still heartbroken. I first lost my dad, Nigel February, six years ago and now my mom is gone.”

The matter will resume in the Bellville Regional Court on 29 January 2021.

Ilitha Labantu, an organisation that fights against violence perpetrated against women and children, believes a lot must be done to address this scourge.

“There needs to be the implementation of transformative measures that seek to address the structural causes of gender inequality at all levels.

“Men need to play a more active role in the fight against the scourge of gender-based violence. Women alone cannot win this fight as it requires men’s active engagement in dismantling the toxic patriarchal power structures that exist in all spheres of society,” said Siyabulela Monakali, the organisation’s spokesperson. DM/MC