THE Blues Downs Magistrate Court was packed yesterday for the murder case of 25-year-old mother Shana Balie, allegedly at the hands of her berk.
Jonathan Geswindt, 33, allegedly killed his girlfriend on Christmas Day and buried her in a shallow grave in the backyard of his rented shack in Kraaifontein.
Shana’s body was discovered on 26 December after Jonathan had reported his crime to Kraaifontein police.
Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi‘s statement reads: “Kraaifontein police responded to a complaint on Thursday 26 December 2024 when an unidentified man inform SAPS members at the Community Service Centre that he killed a woman and that she is buried in a shallow grave on their premises.
“The police members proceeded to Ndondo Street in Wallacedene where they discovered the body of the female at around 08:20pm.
“The victim, aged 25 was declared deceased by the medical personnel.”
Shana, who has not yet been buried, leaves behind two children aged 4 and 7 years.
Her twin sister Shaney Balie said that she does not want Jonathan to see the light of day.
She says: “If Jonathan is free, what will I tell her children. I already feel like I am in a corner because her four year old is already calling me mummy because we looked identical and it breaks my heart. Her seven year old gets nightmares because he sees his mother.”
Shaney said that on Christmas, after she came from work she, Shana and some friends were chilling lekker when Jonathan joined.
She explains: “We did not want Jonathan in our company but when we offered him a glass he said he didn't want to drink but I could see that he did not look normal and looked like he was on drugs. The funniest part is they did not argue.”
“The next morning I was looking for my sister and I went to Jonathan’s place and he said my sister is not there.
“But he knew what he did. I think Jonathan planned this well because we found out that he was cleaning the hole in the backyard on Christmas afternoon, when people asked why he was cleaning he said ‘hy haal die babalas uit’.”
The case was attended by the Acting National Commissioner of SAPS, Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, together with the Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya and Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile. They were joined by Minister of Women, Youth and people living with disabilities, Sindisiwe Chukunga.
They all addressed the media to condemn the senseless killing of Balie and called for maximum conviction sentence for the perpetrator.
The SAPS has in the past year ensured 29 000 perpetrators were arrested for GBV-related cases and 559 of these accused were sentenced to life in prison.
The case has been postponed to 17 January 2025 for bail application.