On the eleventh of every month Sarie Botha sits in her Pretoria home and stares at her telephone.
The tragic memories of 11 June 2013 have never healed.
Just over a year ago she had a beautiful 33-year-old daughter, Charmaine Wijnbeek.
Then the devastating news hit her like a sledgehammer – Charmaine was in a serious car accident on the corner of Plattekloof and Koeberg Roads.
Just a few minutes later she was informed by one of Charmaine’s friends that her daughter had died.
Various newspapers reported that she skipped a red traffic light before a Milnerton police vehicle slammed into her Golf.
TygerBurger posed various questions in the aftermath of the accident on 19 June.
Then, a week later, this newspaper reported in the article entitled “Horror car crash still a mystery” that a person in the back of the police van swears that it was the police who skipped the traffic light, and not Charmaine.
Since last year, Sarie has phoned the police every month on the eleventh, but has never received any concrete answers as to how the investigation into the accident is proceeding.
She will not be phoning again.
“The investigation in the case is now complete. The docket will be presented to the senior public prosecutor for discussion and a decision,” Milnerton police spokesperson W/O Daphne O’Reilly told TygerBurger.
O’Reilly says all the evidence and statements were included in the docket.
“All we can do now is wait,” she says.
“The senior public prosecutor has to deal with many such issues, so his decision could take a while yet.”
This is the last thing Sarie wants to hear, since her patience ran dry months ago.
She elaborates: “No-one ever phoned me. Till today I have not received a call from the police to tell me my daughter is dead…”
During the telephonic interview Sarie’s anguish was tangible.
“My family is not doing well,” she swallows.
“To us it seems as if she didn’t die – she was killed.”
That fateful night two police officers went to Du Noon and arrested five suspects.
The van was heading towards Milnerton along Koeberg Road.
The police officers in the vehicle and an eye-witness who was driving behind the van maintain that it was Charmaine who skipped the red light, but one of the suspects in the back of the van said that this version was a lie.
The suspect also said the van was speeding.
Both sides were presented in the media, but now it is ultimately the decision of the senior public prosecutor.
If the decision goes against Charmaine then Sarie will have the option to appeal, but she doubts whether she will be able to afford it.
While she waits, the same memories drift to the surface – the night of the accident.
“I didn’t feel well and took a sleeping pill. I had just closed my eyes when one of Charmaine’s friends phoned me. He said to me she had been in a serious accident… While I was packing stuff I just thought soon I’ll be at the hospital with her. Then the same friend phoned me and said she didn’t make it.”
Since then Sarie has had to cope with various challenges, the worst being when a cell phone company phoned her and demanded to speak to Charmaine.
“I just started crying. I said if they have a direct line to heaven they can phone her.”
Charmaine’s death has left a swathe of broken hearts. Sarie has two sons and neither of them have come to terms with the fact that they will never see Charmaine again.
***DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN TYGERBURGER, A CAPE TOWN BASED MEDIA24 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. IT MAY NOT BE DUPLICATED WITHOUT ACCREDITING THE SOURCE – TYGERBURGER, MEDIA24.***