Blog South Africa

It has been one year since the brutal murder and dismemberment of 17 year old Anika Smit in her house, yet we still sit here waiting for answers!

Despite the police saying that they have put their best people on the case, we have seen suspects come and go, potential murder weapons discovered and then forgotten.

The sick individual who committed this crime HAS to be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“The chances are good that they made her suffer and watched her suffering,” said criminologist Anni Hesselink. “They must have enjoyed seeing her like that.”

According to Hesselink, the manner in which Anika was murdered and left is directly related to the murderer’s characteristics.

“The purpose of his/her/their visit was to hurt her,” said Hesselink.

“If it was one person, it is an extremely dangerous person. Because if one is capable of doing all those things (murdering her, presumably raping her and cutting off her hands), one has to be abnormal and psychopathic.

Hesselink went on to say that Anika must have known her murderer and let them in the house.

This is not the sort of person we want to have in our society!

Someone out there knows, or suspects they know who committed this disgusting crime.

I encourage that person to contact the police – even anonymously – and give Anika’s family and friends get some sort of peace, closure and answers.

Even if you are wrong, know that you have done the right thing!

UPDATE:

There is going to be a candlelight vigil outside Anika’s parents home.

Please bring a white, red or pink rose or lilly as well as a white candle to burn in memory of Anika.

Address:

40 Jakkals Street, Theresapark (North of Pretoria)

When:

TODAY (10th March) from 17h00.

Both Annika’s parents will be present.

Tags: Anika Smit Murder by James
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I wonder what is going on with the Anika Smit murder case.

Way back in May, her ex-boyfriend, Nico Venter, was arrested by the police. He was then released on R10 000 bail. This left relatives and friends angry and unhappy.

Johan Smit was a bit more down-to-earth. When commenting on the bail, he said:

“People say you are innocent until the court finds you guilty. I assume if he has not been convicted yet, I must accept the court’s decision”.

We discovered that Nico Venter was questioned by police on March 12 and that later in March he was asked to go back to the police offices. On legal advice he refused and was arrested later that day. He was later released to appear in court.

The following day we are told that the police are searching for a second suspect. They did not name the suspect or provide any other information. Now, months later, a second arrest is yet to be forthcoming.

A week or so later on March 21 it was reported that super-sleuth Brigadier Piet Byleveld had been called in by local police to assist in the case. He has not discussed why he was being brought into the case.

What is strange to me is that Nico Venter was granted bail and then Piet Byleveld is brought in on the case. I have a number of questions:
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Tags: Anika Smit Murder, Crime by James
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Crime and murder has been rife in South Africa over the past decade or so, but it seems to me that murder is now reaching epidemic proportions. Other serious crime also seems to have escalted out of all proportion – take a look at the beating up of baby Marzaan Kruger.

These terrible things got so much worse when South Africa stopped using the death penalty.

Some Arguments for the Death Penalty

- Some argue that the death of a criminal gives closure to their victim’s (if they are still alive) and their families.

- The death penalty serves as a deterrent to criminals who may be considering committing a capital offence.

- One of the main principals of punishment and the judicial system is that the penalty fits the crime. If someone violently murders another individual or numerous people, then it makes sense for the punishment to be death.

- Some anti-death penalty campaigners describe examples of people on death row, or people have already been killed have then been proved innocent. Today, the accuracy of modern forensics and DNA testing makes it very unlikely for an innocent person to be put on death row. Furthering this point, it is argued that the number of innocent people that may be killed is equalised by the number of actual criminals that are set free.

- Putting people in prison, as opposed to executing them gives them a chance of parole (or the small chance of escape), meaning they can commit more crimes. Capital punishment means there is no chance of the criminal committing another crime.

Some Arguments Against the Death Penalty
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Tags: Crime by James
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There has still been absolutely no word by the police on the Anika Smit murder case. One has to wonder if any progress has been made?

What does this silence mean?

Well it could be that the police are still waiting for the crime labs to process all the evidence. It is well known that these labs are notoriously slow in getting results, generally because they are so overworked and understaffed.

Another conclusion could be that the police are absolutely clueless about the identity of the killer. This doesn’t surprise me, as it seems as though the police only get speedy results if the killer hangs around waiting to get picked up (a la the E.T. killers).

What worries me is that the longer we go without answers, the greater chance there is that the police will just try to pin this on a suspect without much evidence to back it up.

It seems that the media is also strangely silent about this. Despite the later E.T. murder, one would think that they would at least mention this case in passing!

Tags: Anika Smit Murder by James
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