A community meeting will take place this coming Wednesday, starting at 18:00, to address the scourge of crime that has swept Middelburg South, resulting in the gruesome murder of a local man in the park next to Laerskool C.R. Swart in front of his wife.
The victim, who has not been formally identified yet, was walking home with his wife when the pair fell prey to at least three robbers.
The man, said to have been a beloved school teacher, and his wife, went to buy bread at the local OK Grocer in Jeppe Street when they were attacked.
The victim was stabbed multiple times with such ferocity that some of his internal organs were exposed.
The wife ran for help, and it was clear from the scene that the teacher suffered immensely in the savage assault, as drag and roll marks were visible around his battered corpse.
Since the murder, there has been an intense backlash from the community, with parents fearing the worst.
The park where the stabbing took place is close to two major schools, namely Laerskool C.R. Swart and Hoër Tegniese Skool Middelburg.
Hundreds of children are forced to navigate their way through the park daily, where a growing number of homeless people, including drug addicts, live in the bushes.
Residents say they are often the targets of petty criminals.
DA councillor San-Mari Wait has now taken hands with the primary school for the community to unite and fight back.
“We have to take back our parks, like we did with the Tarries cycling course, and drive the enemy out,” she told the Middelburg Observer.
She believes a concerted effort is needed to clean the area of shacks and makeshift shelters for the homeless.
Law enforcement does patrol the park, but the prevalence of the homeless population, often consisting of violent and criminal elements, is just too big to address without the proactive help of the community.
The teacher was stabbed in the same park where the tortured remains of Douw van der Walt were found.
Van der Walt was brutally beaten and run over multiple times by a car. His body was discovered by passersby on May 4.
Wait invites the entire South community to the meeting scheduled to take place in Laerskool C.R. Swart’s school hall.
She can be contacted for more information on 083 250 5968.
