Sylvia van Niekerk

Sylvia van Niekerk (1964 – 2010)

Brief overview:

Sylvia an Afrikaans poet, was gruesomely murdered on Friday 10/09/2010 between 15:00 and 17:00 during the day, and found with stab wounds in her neck and stomach in her kitchen. Guesthouse farm cottage, Boplaas, Danielskuil

Joe Van Niekerk discovered his wife’s body shortly after 17:00 when he came home from work.

For two years the Van Niekerks travelled across the country together, but their “permanent honeymoon” was cut short by Sylvia van Niekerk’s gruesome murder. Joe van Niekerk told Volksblad about the murder of his wife Sylvia in a rented guest cottage on the farm Boplaas outside Danielskuil. He worked under contract at the Kolomela mine in Postmasburg.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
  • Sylvia's ashes will be scattered at Salt Rock on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. This was her favourite place, and she asked that her ashes be scattered there after her death.
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
  • A 17-year-old suspect was arrested on Saturday afternoon. The unnamed black suspect appeared in court the following Monday. The case was postponed until Friday, for a bail application.
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

The tragedy comes barely two weeks after Sylvia's brother died, and a year after Van Niekerk's 22-year-old son, Albert, died."The Lord leads us through deep waters, but He knows why," Van Niekerk said on Monday.The couple got married about two years ago. Since their children had left home, they decided to sell their house and travel across the country, as Van Niekerk worked for a contracting firm in a number of different places.
They spent the past two months at Danielskuil while Van Niekerk worked at the Kolomela mine in Postmasburg.He now wants to finish his contract and leave Danielskuil, since there are too many memories there. Sylvia Van Niekerk will be cremated and her ashes will be scattered at Salt Rock on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. This was her favourite place, and she asked that her ashes be scattered there after her death. Van Niekerk described his wife as a loving person who was touched when she saw beggars at the side of the road. She was creative and had a passion for photography, writing and painting. Shortly before the murder, at 14:47, she wrote on her Facebook profile: "To the world you may be just one person - but to one person you may be the world."

Just four days earlier, she wrote a poem on her Facebook :

”If tomorrow starts without me…”

‘If tomorrow starts without me.and I'm not there to see If the sun should rise and find your eyes all filled with tears for me I wish so much you wouldn't cry the way you did today While thinking of the many things we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me as much as I love you And each time that you think of me I know you'll miss me too

But when tomorrow starts without me please try to understand That an angel came and called my name and took me by the hand And said my place was ready in heaven far above

And that I'd have to leave behind all those I dearly love But as I turned to walk away a tear fell from my eye

For all my life, I'd always thought I didn't want to die. I had so much to live for so much left yet to do

It seemed almost impossible that I was leaving you I thought of all the yesterdays the good ones and the bad

I thought of all that we shared and all the fun we had If I could relive yesterday just even for a while I'd say good-bye and kiss you and maybe see you smile

But then I fully realized that this could never be For emptiness and memories would take the place of me

And when I thought of worldly things I might miss some tomorrow I thought of you, and when I did my heart was filled with sorrow

But when I walked through heaven's gates I felt so much at home When God looked down and smiled at me from His great golden throne

He said, "This is eternity and all I've promised you Today your life on earth is past but here life starts anew

I promise no tomorrow but today will always last And since each day is the same way there's no longing for the past

So when tomorrow starts without me don't think we're far apart For every time you think of me I'm right here, in your heart.’

Sylvia van Niekerk

"A heart made of gold and forged by God to make her ordeal painless. She loved writing and in the last couple of years of our lives she really opened up about herself, her imperfections and her walk with God. I will forever hold you close to me and forever miss you. Movies say the pain goes away with time, I say the pain will be walking free in 25 years. Love you mom xx"

Posted by Anthony, August 7, 2013 on https://whisnews21.com/2013/02/01/70000-whites-murdered-in-south-af...

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.fo/jVTBn
• https://archive.is/v3Ftm
• http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/09/farm-murder-two-r...