‘No mercy for the monster’

johan kotze in custody

SUPPLIED

A handcuffed Johan Kotze inside the holding cells at the Modimolle police station. Kotze, who was arrested on Wednesday, was expected to appear in the Modimolle Magistrates Court today, together with an accomplice.

Related Stories

ANC Women’s League members sang liberation songs outside the Modimolle Magistrate’s Court on Friday ahead of the appearance of Johan Kotze.

Kotze, 50, is accused of orchestrating an attack on his estranged wife and of killing her teenage son.

“Senzeni na? Senzeni na? (What have we done?),” they sang. They also waved posters calling for Kotze not to be granted bail.

“Geen borg, geen genade vir die monster (no bail, no mercy for the monster),” read a poster.

They were angered at what Kotze had allegedly done, said ANCWL Waterberg treasurer Joy Matshoge.

“We are very angry. We call on the court not to grant him bail,” she said.

“Violence has no colour or race – we are here to support the woman.”

She said the ANCWL was also angry that Kotze had taken advantage of poor, unemployed men, promising them jobs and later allegedly forcing them to attack his wife.

“He is a devil,” she said.

Matshoge said the law should be fair towards them and take into consideration that they had not intended committing the crime.

The house in Church street where the attack took place was deserted on Friday morning. A lone dog walked past the locked gate.

“This is the house,” people rushing to work said, pointing to the building.

A manhunt was launched for Kotze when he fled in a white Toyota Fortuner after the alleged attack at his home on January 4.

The Star newspaper reported that a local woman recognised Kotze while he bought food at a shop and called the police. He was arrested in the town on Wednesday.

A search was also conducted for the three men he allegedly forced at gunpoint to attack his estranged wife. They ran away afterwards, but one of them, a 42-year-old man, was arrested on Wednesday in Makapanstad near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.

He was also expected to appear in the Modimolle Magistrate’s Court on Friday. The two other men were still at large. – Sapa

See the original post:
‘No mercy for the monster’