KwaNobuhle grandfather Besengile Booi, 65, refuses to refer to the man charged with allegedly beating his foster child to death with a spade and a hammer by his name.
He calls him “the monster”. With their neat little plastic folder of documents relating to the death of their child, Athobe van Ryner, 19, he and his wife, Nontobeko, have quietly been campaigning for suspect Siphesihle Dwane not to get bail.
Dwane, 28, was arrested in November, several days after Van Ryner’s broken body was found in the bush – murdered, his foster parents claim, all because of a R150 debt.
Van Ryner was one of four foster children in the care of the Boois.
They took over his parenting after the death of their relative in whose care he had been.
Late in 2018, Besengile made a little wooden cross and carried it to the spot where Van Ryner’s body was found.
He walked to the hill, 5km from their neighbourhood.
He walked past the house where Van Ryner was allegedly tortured for days and went up a tiny dirt road.
It was here, surrounded by pigs and cows, where Van Ryner’s body was found propped up on a rock.
“I can’t find peace again,” Besengile said.
On a 2019 church calendar in their front room, there is only one big circle – around the day of Dwane’s next court appearance on February 21.
Besengile and Nontobeko have managed to put together a harrowing picture of their foster child’s last days.
He was allegedly grabbed by six men on his way home after an exam and held at the house of an alleged drug dealer.
He was allegedly smothered with a plastic bag, beaten and kept in a wheelie bin and eventually killed with a hammer and a spade.
He was so badly beaten that Nontobeko could only identify him by his feet.
His foster parents say they learnt he was beaten to a pulp because he owed the alleged drug dealer R150.
Last week, when Dwane appeared in court, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) handed a letter to the magistrate: “Dwane is a danger to the entire society and to the community of KwaNobuhle. He should be kept behind bars.”
Eastern Cape TAC deputy chair Thembisile Nogampula, said: “On February 21, there will be a massive march by the community.
“We are tired of drug syndicates in our community. Enough is enough. No more dying.”
Dwane also has pending cases of rape and assault against him.
During his bail application for the latest charge, he offered to pay R500 and said he wanted to be released to look after his children.
Nontobeko, 57, had to be escorted from the courtroom as she was crying hysterically.
“It hurt me to bury a child. He was a good child – he liked soccer and rugby. He won medals for wrestling – he liked to swim,” she said.
“He was a bit slow in school. His brother caught up with him in grade 9.
“He was good with helping people – everybody in the street knew him. He would help them with jobs.”
The display cupboard in her front room is filled with pictures of her foster children, a set of fine porcelain cups, six wine glasses and a whole lot of medals won by the boys for wrestling.
Van Ryner was a pupil at Molly Bam Senior Secondary School.
“On the Wednesday [November 13], he and his brother went to school to write an exam. They always took a shortcut home through the houses. It was just before 12 when they grabbed him.”
His brother, Brandon, pointed out the house where Athobe had allegedly been taken to. Nontobeko said:
“The [woman] invited us in. He [suspect] was in a separate room.
“I said: ‘Where is Athobe?’ He [allegedly] said: ‘I hit him and he went home’. I said: ‘He is not at home now’.”
Nontobeko said they then returned home.
“We thought [Athobe] would come back. The problem with the police is if you go before 24 hours [after a person goes missing] they tell you to go away and come back.
“[His brother] went to school again for an exam [the next day]. He came back again, saying: “Grandma and grandpa, they are hitting Athobe at that house you went to yesterday.”
The Boois again went to the police station.
“The police said we must wait for a van.
“We stayed until 7.30pm. The nightshift came on. We were still waiting. Eventually, two policemen went with us [to the house].
“[Dwane] came out of the same room again.
“He said: ‘Mama, don’t bring the police here.’
“I said: ‘If you give me Athobe, they will go away’.”
She said the police had told her and her husband they should bring them a picture of Van Ryner and open a case.
For a few days, she kept on going back to the police station. She said a policeman had eventually informed her they had found a body in the bush.
“We went into the yard at the back of Uitenhage Provincial Hospital. I saw the [mortuary] van.
“They showed me the boy. They asked how old he was.
“They showed me a face, but I couldn’t recognise him.
“His face was too dark. I said: ‘Show me his feet. I will know him by his feet.’
“I was just crying,” she said. Dwane was arrested on November 20 – a week after the abduction.
“The police didn’t care. If they had, my child might still be alive,” Nontobeko said.
During previous court proceedings, Dwane said he would deny killing Van Ryner.