GEORGE NEWS - In a time when we should all be celebrating Christmas cheer, Madeleine Oosthuizen, who is battling stage 4 cervical cancer, and her children, are drowning in sorrow.
Her fiancé Jaco Minnie (42) was stabbed to death in Nelson Mandela Boulevard on her birthday - the same day he proposed to her. The couple's son Jack (8) and daughter Joy (6) might soon be without parents.
"Who is going to take care of my children when I'm gone? There's still so much I wanted to do to them. I wonder what they will look like when they are grown up, I wonder what they will become. I'm scared," a heartbroken Oosthuizen asked with tears in her eyes.
Minnie was stabbed to death on Friday night, 13 December in Nelson Mandela Boulevard. Oosthuizen says she thinks it was a revenge attack after Minnie "squealed" when he eyewitnessed people stealing tyres from a vehicle and reported it to the police earlier this year.
According to Oosthuizen, Minnie was walking to the Total garage in Nelson Mandela Boulevard to buy sugar when he was attacked and stabbed three times. Minnie shared a house with Oosthuizen, their children, Huisamen and her disabled daughter and Oosthuizen's mother, in Binne Street in the industrial area.
"We were going to get married. He proposed to me on my birthday, but he died the same night. This was going to be our first Christmas, together as a family, in a very long time.
"He was the one who lifted my spirits. He was my best friend, our son's best friend, and he adored our little girl. He caught her at birth. I am already in the process of leaving my children behind. How do I cope now that he is gone, and I am on my way - my children will grow up without parents," said Oosthuizen.
"If anyone is listening, I ask that the people who did this not be left to go free, that they face justice and sit in prison where they belong for the rest of their lives."
Jaco Minnie
According to Southern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Chris Spies, police responded to a stabbing incident at about 21:20.
Shortly after the incident, two men aged 23 and 27 were arrested in Borcherds. They appeared in the George Magistrate's Court on Wednesday 18 December. Details about their appearance could not be confirmed yet.
Spies said the members found Minnie with a stab wound to the chest. "Medical personnel declared the victim dead on the scene," said Spies.
Minnie's sister Jacqueline Minnie and their mother, Aletta Thessner, are also reeling in shock and sadness while trying to navigate funeral arrangements.
According to Jacqueline, they are shocked and extremely saddened by his untimely death. "We will always remember you with a heart of gold. On the 1st of January, on your birthday, you will be gone. Just know you are now safe under God's wings."
Thessner recently had a stroke and is still in rehabilitation.
"Our mother's heart is broken. His Christmas clothes are still in her cupboard," said Jacqueline. "May your murderers be given a harsh sentence. They have robbed us of a jewel. I have no words . . . rest softly, my Boeboe. Love, your sister and mother."
His family says he had a passion for the homeless and always tried to help where he could.
"He will be greatly missed. His two older children, Amy and Jonathan Minnie, are also devastated by his death."
According to Huisamen, Minnie was a fantastic man.
"He didn't have much, but he was prepared even to share that with the homeless and less fortunate. He was a giver. A gentle soul who always went out of his way to help others. He was an amazing father and a sister's best friend."Minnie's funeral will be held at Soteria Church in Victoria Street on Saturday 21 December.
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