A TWENTY-five-year-old Hillary woman was brutally attacked and stabbed to death by unknown men while walking on Huntley Road, Hillary at about 12pm on Tuesday, 28 March.
A man has been arrested and confessed to the murder of Chantal de Lange.
“The suspect appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 7 April and was remanded in custody till 18 April for his sentencing,” said W/O Paul De Waal.
Bellair SAPS detectives working together with the crime prevention unit secured the arrest. De Lange was allegedly walking home when she found herself in a fatal robbery in which her handbag was stolen.
“We arrived to find the woman in a critical condition which quickly deteriorated and she went into cardiac arrest. Advanced Life Support Paramedics worked for more than 30 minutes and managed to revive the critically injured patient,” said Garrith Jamieson, Rescue Care spokesman.
The family said, according to the postmortem report, she was stabbed six times, twice in the heart and four times in the lungs.
De Lange is the eldest daughter of Jan and Margaret de Lange. Her younger sister, Melissa van Loggenberg said she found out about her sister’s incident while driving to Johannesburg with family.
“I received a call from someone saying they spotted a lady laying on the road and she looked like my sister. At first the person who called said that she might have been knocked down by a car because she was lying in the middle of the road,” she said.
When Chantal’s mom, Margaret de Lange, arrived at the scene, she had already passed out and paramedics were trying to resuscitate her.
Bystanders said that they waited for more than hour for police to arrive. Police said the reason for the delay was understaffing,” said Margaret de Lange.
Bellair SAPS communications officer, W/O Prakash Kumar, denies allegations of police incompetency.
“It took the police officers eight minutes to get to the crime scene, we have records of reaction times,” said Kumar.
Chantal’s family described her as someone who could brighten up a room, with a golden heart and a love for children.
De Waal said Chantal’s belongings were recovered with the suspect.
The family would like to thank the community for their support, especially the Flamboyant Park Neighbourhood Watch.
A memorial service was held on Tuesday, 4 April at Charisma Family Church.
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