Family’s petition after woman is allegedly killed by boyfriend
A family is seeking justice after a woman was allegedly murdered by her abusive boyfriend.
Candice Robertson, 38, had been living with Ethian van der Merwe, 50, for four years when she was strangled to death at the Jambo guesthouse in Green Point on 30 April.
Her family only found out about her murder last week.
The mother of one was last seen by her family at the beginning of the year.
Her distraught sister Chantal Isaacs tells the Daily Voice that Candice leaves behind a 15-year-old child.
“They lived together and he was abusive. We have had no contact as she went AWOL and offline for a month,” she says.
“And then last week the cops traced an old case of hers to an address close to my mom and the neighbour took them to my mom’s house to tell her about the incident.”
When the Daily Voice visited the guesthouse, a man who asked to remain anonymous said Van Der Merwe had been living there for six months.
“He was a lodger, the day the police came to get him he was supposed to move out.
“He was here with his girlfriend, and then we heard that he did that to her.
“It is terrible what he did to her. I didn’t really know them.”
It is not clear who called the police to the scene.
Van Der Merwe was arrested the same day and has appeared in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk says a murder case is being investigated.
“He was remanded in custody and will appear in court again on Friday.”
Candice’s friend Zaakirah Malaika Malik and other friends have since drawn up a petition to keep Van Der Merwe behind bars.
“It is with humble request that I am asking for people to participate in a petition for the murder of my dear friend Candice Robertson.
“She was murdered by her own boyfriend Ethian van der Merwe, her life was choked out of her and she was left alone without dignity.
“It was Karen Kwalie that did the petition and we were communicating back and forth about this because we don’t want him to get bail,” says Zaakirah.
You can sign the petition on Change.org (https://chng.it/ZDvZNXyL)