Cape Town - At the start of the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, a major victory was achieved in the Strand Regional Court when five men were convicted of raping and murdering a teenager nearly 16 years ago.
Seventeen-year-old Cytheria Rex’s case, plagued by delays and more than 115 postponements, has made history as the longest running court case at a regional court in South Africa. She had been stabbed 39 times, dragged and dumped in a wheelie bin.
The accused, who were also teenagers at the time, were convicted for their roles in 2009 rape and murder after being linked via key witness testimony and DNA evidence.
It was a historical and emotional moment when Magistrate Deon Van der Spuy announced his verdict in under two hours, finding Virgil Sass, Oswill Grootboom, Imeraan Hendricks, Lee Cloete and Rhonwan Rhode guilty of the rape and murder.
Van der Spuy also placed on record that two of the accused, Keenan Lewis and Warren Robertson had since died while the trial had been running at the Blue Downs Regional Court and were no longer part of the matter.
He advised the trial had been running for a lengthy period due to the accused changing legal counsel repeatedly and that they had opted to plead not guilty to the charges.
“All seven of the accused were present at the scene of the crime,” he said inside the courtroom which was filled with close to 10 police officers, Community Police Forum members, Neighbourhood Watch members, family of the deceased, mother Jacqueline Rex and relatives of the accused.
In his judgment the Van der Spuy said: “They all had intent to rape and murder the victim. The reason why I am saying so is because the victim was stabbed 39 times, and she was dragged down the passage and all of the accused tried to throw her over the wall.
“Everyone or some helped to put the body into the wheelie bin.”
The verdict was met with much relief and tears by Cyntheria’s mother Jacqueline.
“I feel relieved and I thank God for the 16 years of what He has done for us, because as a family we felt hopeless, disappointed but I just thank God today,” she said.
“Justice has been served and I am crying tears of joy and happiness. I want to say thank you to my family for all of your support and my friends.
“My sister, Cathleen van der Merwe, who stood by me, we made it, our prayers were answered, thank you Jesus.”
In a blow by blow account, Van der Spuy detailed how a single and significant witness placed all seven of the accused at the crime scene in Eikendal in Kraaifontein on February 22, 2009, and that his crucial testimony had corroborated with vital DNA evidence.
Cytheria’s body was found inside a bloodied wheelie bin, which had been dumped onto a field.
Van der Spuy said the fact that most of the accused had elected not to testify in their own defence and that they did not report the matter to the police, was significant in his findings.
He said according to the witness’ testimony, he was called to the house of accused one, Sass, where he had seen a girl named Samantha leaving and inside a bedroom he found all seven accused with Cytheria lying on her side – and was unsure whether she was alive or dead.
The group had gathered for a party where drugs and potjie were shared.
He detailed how the men dragged Cytheria’s limp body down the passage and this was when the witness realised she was dead. It had been the tracks of the bin which had led police to the house of Sass where blood was found at the doorstep and inside the bedroom.
Van der Spuy said expert witnesses such as the forensic team were key as they found Sass’ fingerprint on a knife found inside the bedroom.
A screwdriver, newspaper and condom wrappers were also found inside the house. These were key in evidence as Cloete, accused four’s fingerprints was found on the wrapper of the condom which was discovered inside the dirt bin in the kitchen.
The DNA of accused three, Hendricks was found on Cytheria’s panty and and DNA in her vaginal area was linked to accused six and seven, Robertson and Lewis who are deceased.
“The evidence and testimony of the witness cannot be rejected as it would be an injustice as it draws and collaborates with the expert witness such as the condom wrapper found with the fingerprint and that means accused four was there,” Van der Spuy added.
He added Cytheria had not given consent for sexual intercourse and that the motive must have been to silence her.
As the verdict was being read, all accused showed no remorse and turned around in the bench, desperately looking at their families. Advocate Bronwyn Pithey of the Women’s Legal Centre said despite the victory, the delay in the case was an injustice.
“The conviction is welcomed, but the real question is whether justice has been served as this matter has taken so long to be finalised,” she said.
“It is clearly tactics used by the accused and in other matters where witnesses disappear or have the stamina to continue which happens a lot in sexual offences.
“Femicide is a big issue in this country because of their gender and these cases need to be taken very seriously, as you need to understand the trauma of the victim and the family.
“This is a clear indication of a dysfunctional system.
“In this case you have the accused who are manipulating the system, we need to look at ways to hold them accountable when there are legal practitioners changing, accused who are not in court, frivolous bail applications, which needs to be addressed in a proactive way.”
Barbara Rass, activist of the Atlantis Women’s Movement who has been monitoring the case, echoed the same sentiment.
“Justice delayed is justice denied, because of delaying a case for so long,” she said.
“It is a violation of the victim’s basic human right and it shows that the justice system is not serious about the 16 days of no violence against women and children because if they were serious, why the long wait.
“Abuse is just a word, in the same 16 days women and children are abused.
“The 16 days is meaningless, people have to wait years for justice.
“Women need to stand together, not labels or organisations, against this, and there are also women in the justice system who are not affected by the suffering of other women.
“We call on them to show their strength and for their voices to be heard.”
The case has seen more than 115 postponements, 53 of which were due to legal representatives being changed.
The accused also called for a discharge in the matter but it was denied.
Sentencing has been set down on February 21, 2025, ironically a day before the anniversary of Cytheria’s brutal rape and murder.
The ages of some of the accused, who were minors at the time, will also form part of the record for sentencing.