Polokwane, July 20: The son of a well-known Polokwane lawyer was cruelly murdered at the weekend, when he was strangled and repeatedly hit over the head and in the face with a shovel.
Lawyer and businessman, Rampie Smit, found the blood-stained body of his son, Gericke Smit, 29, on Saturday afternoon in the storage room of his Rampie Smit building in Hans van Rensburg street in the CBD.
Gericke’s sister, Natasha Visser, said the family is in utter shock. “They destroyed him,” she added.
She and her husband, Phillip, drove through the night on Saturday from Uitenhage to be with the family in Polokwane. Phillip Smit described the murder as “demonic”.
Inhuman
“The Lord didn’t create people to be so cruel towards others. To hit someone with a shovel on the head and in the face repeatedly… is inhuman.”
Gericke Smit went to the building to pay the workers at about 10:30 on Saturday.
The family became concerned when they couldn’t reach him on his cellphone. His father, who knew he had gone to pay the workers, went to the building to look for him, and found his son’s body.
According to Visser, her brother didn’t have a large amount of money on him. “He only had to pay a few workers. It’s not like he had thousands of rands on him.”
Gericke’s cellphone, an unknown amount of cash and his Daewoo car have been missing since the murder.
Construction workers are doing building and restoration work on the Rampie Smit building, as well as at the neighbouring building.
Police spokesperson, Moatshe Ngoepe, said detectives were close to arresting the suspected murderers. Forensic experts examined the building on Sunday.
‘Innocence personified’
“He was innocence personified. He had a gentle nature and never had a harsh word for another person,” said Phillip Smit.
According to Visser, her brother “wouldn’t harm a fly”.
Gericke’s girlfriend, Carla Nel, was also extremely shocked. The couple had been in a relationship for five years. Gericke’s blue Daewoo’s registration number is DKY 571 N.
—Agencies