A mourner sits next to a picture of Martin, Rudi and Teresa during the memorial service of the massacred family in Pretoria on Thursday
Image: Independent on Line
The van Breda family has come out in full support of the surviving boy in the axing of his family which happened last week. The uncle to Henri van Breda, Andrè van Breda told reporters that the family would support the young man ‘no matter what’. He was speaking to reporters soon after the memorial service of the three members of Henri’s family who were killed during an attack on the family which left the father, Martin, mother Teresa and elder brother dead and young sister, Marli in intensive care. The memorial service was held in the Moreleta Park NG Kerk in Pretoria on Thursday.
In an attack that was widely reported in the local and international media, the family which resided in the de Zalze Golf Estate in Stellenbosch, was attacked, apparently with an axe and the attack resulted in the death of the three members of the family, leaving the youngest member, Marli in intensive care with a severed jugular vein and a huge gash on the head. She was unresponsive initially but was reported to be making ‘miraculous’ recovery recently. Only the younger son, Henri was found with a few scratches and it appears that he is the one that made the cellphone call to alert the world of the tragedy that had befallen the family. According to the Estate’s official statement, there was no breach of security in the family home, which is reported to have cameras all over the place. There have been some media reports which have indicated that Henri giggled during the call he made, which has raised further speculation about the youngest son’s part in the decimation of his family. This has been further fueled by the complete lack of information from the police, who have refused to answer any questions on the facts surrounding the case. In a recent interview with the press, police spokesman, Andrè Traut said, “I am not answering any question. This is a police investigation (and) not a Q and A session.”
In the latest complication to the case from the point of view of the media, the uncle of the two surviving siblings, who is also the deceased businessman’s twin brother, has indicated to the media that the family was behind Henri ‘all the way’ and ‘no matter what’, further adding that the twenty year old boy was ‘heartbroken’ and ‘traumatised’ by the death of his father, mother and brother, Rudi. He also said they were happy that the sister was making progress in hospital and had been responding to instructions by moving her limbs and her eyes.
The butchering of the van Breda family is reported to have happened only a few days after the family had celebrated the 91st birthday of the family grandmother, Rieka du Toit, who is Teresa’s mother.
