daughter was afraid and got into bed. I went to the kitchen, where I unlocked the door. The safety door was still locked. My late husband and his brother were both outside the door.
My late husband began to swear terribly and asked me why I had locked the door. I answered that we were at home alone. He said he wanted money. I told him I would go and fetch money. He said: “Open the door or I’ll shoot you dead.” I pushed the door shut and almost immediately he fired a shot with a firearm that he had in his hand.
The firearm was a .22 pistol, Astra no. [omitted]. The firearm belongs to [omitted]. My husband was in the process of buying the firearm from [omitted].
Then he said to me: “Oh, you think I can’t get inside the house!”
I ran to the bedroom and took my .38 Taurus Special revolver Serial no. [omitted], which belongs to me, out of my wardrobe. Then I went to my daughter’s room.
Soon afterwards my husband, who had got inside the house very quickly, began to hammer on the door [of Charlize’s room]. I pushed the door shut. I heard another shot and later saw that the bullet had gone through the bedroom door and out through the window.
He shouted: “Tonight I’ll shoot both of you dead with the shotgun!” Then he went to the bedroom. I was very frightened and feared for my daughter’s and my own life.
I ran after him to the bedroom. I began to fire at him. I don’t know how many shots I fired. I saw him fall.
When I turned, I saw his brother behind me and instinctively I fired another shot in his direction. His brother fell too.
Then my daughter came out of her room to help me. We were both crying.
My daughter went to call our neighbours and they summoned the police.
Later I identified the body to Detective Sergeant Delport as that of Mr Charles Jacobus Theron.
The body sustained no further wounds or injuries in my presence.
I am familiar with the contents of this statement.
Danie Theron waited outside after Charles had forced open the door of the bar. Only when he heard shots being fired inside did he go in. His statement read:
I, Mr Daniël Theron, a white man 36 years old, residing at [omitted], Kuruman, tel. [omitted], own business, declare under oath:
On Friday 1991–06–21 at about 15:30 my brother Mr Charles Theron (the deceased) phoned me and asked me to pay him a visit. At that stage I was staying with our sister at Plot 25, Cloverdene.
At first I did not want to go, as Charles’s wife, Mrs Gerda Theron, and I do not see eye to eye. He said that she had taken their daughter away and was not there at the moment. There-upon I went to his house at Plot 56, 7th Road, Cloverdene.
I stayed there for a short while and then we returned to Plot 25, Cloverdene.
When we arrived there, I quickly got my [new] pickup ready and then asked Charles to take a test drive with me. While we were driving, we made a quick stop at a bottle store at Rynfield [in Benoni] and bought a bottle of vodka, as well as a 20 ml bottle of Underberg, which Charles wanted to drink for his headache. We returned to Plot 25, Cloverdene.
Back at the house, Charles drank the small bottle of Underberg. Then I poured each of us a glass of vodka and we sat at the table, talking. During our conversation I realised that my brother was under a great deal of pressure and wanted to take a break for a few days.
During the entire evening Charles had only 2 small glasses of vodka.
At about 21:15, while we were still talking, Charles’s wife, Mrs Gerda Theron, and his daughter, Charlize, arrived.
Charlize entered without greeting anyone and went directly to the toilet. Mrs Theron didn’t come in but stood at the door and asked for the key of their house. Charles told her that he had the key. He invited her to come in and sit down. He would only be another 5 minutes. She said that he [unclear] and that she would not come in.
My wife gave Mrs Theron the key. She left. Charles’s daughter walked out, again without saying goodbye to anyone. They left. Charles asked his wife not to lock him out again. I could see that Charles was upset.
When I showed him a Father’s Day card my children had made for me, he became even more upset.
Then he picked up the telephone and phoned his house. The telephone rang for a while before it was answered. I concluded that it was his daughter, Charlize, who had answered.
I heard Charles ask Charlize why she had not greeted anyone. I concluded that she was answering back, at which Charles became very angry and shouted: “Man, fuck you and your mother!” Then he slammed down the telephone.
He sat down again but about 15 minutes later he decided to leave. He asked me to take him home. At first I was reluctant and I gave him the keys to my pickup so that he could drive himself. He insisted that I take him home.
While we were driving, he remarked that he would probably be staring down the barrel of the 12-bore again tonight.
I also want to mention that Mrs Theron had threatened to shoot me on previous occasions.
When we arrived at his house, he invited me to come in for a drink. I did not want to, for I did not want to cause any more trouble, but Charles insisted.
When we got to the porch, he said that his wife had locked him out again. He tugged at the door, but nobody came to open it. Then he said: “Tonight I’m going to shoot this lock off the door.” He fired a shot at the lock. Then he pulled at the sliding door.
Then he fired a shot into the ground. At no stage did Mrs Theron open the door or shout anything. At this point I told Charles to stop and tried to hold him back, but he pulled free and said: “Leave me alone.”
I was scared and decided it would be safer to wait outside. I was standing almost right next to the pickup, where it was dark. I could hear Charles tug at the sliding door again. At this point he managed to get the [sliding] door open and I could hear the door open.
Immediately afterwards I heard a shot being fired. I was afraid and began to approach the house. When I reached the door on the porch, I heard a second shot, and then more shots. I’m not sure exactly how many shots I heard.
I realised that there was serious trouble and I ran in through the sliding door.
When I turned the corner into the passage, I saw Mrs Theron standing in the doorway to their bedroom. She looked at me. The revolver was still in her hand.
When she saw me, she raised the firearm immediately and fired at me. I held up my hands and dived sideways into a corner of the passage. Then I realised that she had hit me. I lay still and pretended to be dead. Mrs Theron walked up to me – I could hear her footsteps – and stood still. Then she turned and ran back to the bedroom. I looked up and saw her entering the room again.
I jumped up immediately and ran out. I was wounded in my left hand. At one stage blood was spurting from the wound.
I wanted to get away and when I got outside I heard Charlize give a terrible scream. Immediately afterwards I heard another shot. I just ran. The
