There were broken hearts and tears on Saturday as family and friends bid their final farewells to murdered teen Rene-Tracy Roman.
The Lavender Hill meisie had a farewell fit for a president.
The 13-year-old’s white and pink coffin, covered with roses, was carried by six of her cousins into the New Apostolic Church in Lavender Hill, where hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral service.
The child’s parents, Chrissandre and her husband Mervin, as well as her biological father Eugene Jacobs, her two younger siblings and grandmother Maureen de Villiers sat staring at her coffin.
Chrissandre, who is three months pregnant, sat in a trance-like state and appeared calm.
Eugene recently had a haircut with his daughter’s initials, RR, shaved into the left side of his head.
Rene-Tracy disappeared on March 10 when she left her home in St Agatha Crescent to buy a packet of chips at a nearby shop.
The Grade 6 learner’s half-naked and badly decomposed body was found hidden in a Wendy house just two doors from her home on March 21. Her long black hair had been cut off.
A neighbour, Andrew Plaatjies, 50, has allegedly confessed to killing the girl and will appear at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
Delivering her obituary, Apostle Peter Lambert told mourners that Rene-Tracy loved school and wanted to be a teacher.
“Rene was someone who loved school, she was quiet, obedient and belonged to the Levana Primary School choir where she attended,” he said.
“Children are supposed to bury their parents, not parents burying their children. These are sad times we are living in.”
As the young girl’s body left the church in a hearse, the school brigade struck up a solemn drum beat, leading it to the main road from where she was transported to her final resting place at Muizenberg Cemetery.
It was also here where her close-knit family finally broke down.
Watching the coffin being lowered into the ground, a weeping Eugene kissed a pink rose, and dropped it onto the coffin, saying his final goodbye.
The family of murdered 11-year-old Stasha Arendse, whose body was found on Tuesday on a soccer field in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, also attended Rene’s funeral.
The two families have come together to help and support one another during their time of grieving.
Stasha went missing on Monday evening.
Police have charged 31-year-old Randy Tango with her murder.