Cape Town – While the family of soccer star Oshwin Andries prepare for his funeral, the family of the alleged perpetrator live in fear of retaliation after he turned himself over to the police for stabbing the Stellenbosch FC midfielder during a bar fight.
Andries, 19, was stabbed in a frenzied knife attack on January 29 but died when he returned to hospital on Saturday after he complained he wasn’t feeling well.
According to eyewitnesses and the victim’s niece, Nadene Hartman, Oshwin and four others were enjoying drinks at a tavern at a Klapmuts informal settlement hours before the incident occurred.
Among the four was his girlfriend, Ruche Amber (Sya) van Rooyen, Hartman and a friend, Austin Moses.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to Weekend Argus said a scuffle broke out between Oshwin and the perpetrator at the Buntu tavern.
"They were first fighting with their fists," said Hartman.
“(The perpetrator) left the scene and returned moments later with a knife. He then stabbed Oshwin,” she said.
“People were then shouting, screaming and the ambulance was called.”
The teenager’s mother, Natasha Andries, told Weekend Argus that she was preparing to sleep when she heard someone shouting outside telling her that her son had been stabbed.
The 47-year-old said by the time she got to the scene, her son had already been loaded into an ambulance and was rushed to hospital but was later discharged.
Six days later, his mother rushed him to Paarl hospital. But he never made it.
“He was leaning on my chest and gripping my hand and that was the last time I felt his hold on me. His hand was still warm but his feet were already cold. I was praying the whole time the car was rushing to the hospital, it was like the Fast and the Furious.
“His death is painful. You can feel the void he left in the house.
“Oshwin was my everything. The reality that he is gone is yet to kick in.”
Meanwhile, the alleged perpetrator’s relatives fled their family home after they heard of the soccer player’s death.
"We live in fear because people want to kill my brother,“ said the sister of the alleged attacker, in an emotional interview with ”Weekend Argus“
“After he passed away we had to grab what we could and go ... the situation is totally out of hand.”
She explained that their home was invaded by angry people on the day of the stabbing. They accosted her brother while hurling profanities at him.
“I don’t want to make it look like we want people to feel sorry for him but he never meant what he did. Alcohol and anger is all the work of the devil and it destroys young people. What hurts the most is people feel my brother is a murderer while the victim did not pass away on the same day.
“My mommy asked ‘my child, did you stab him?’ and he said ‘mommy, we fought and they ganged up on me, what was I supposed to do?’”
She said the family took her brother to the police station to hand himself over but SAPS turned them away.
In response to queries, police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said: “The matter referred to is still under investigation. No new developments to report at this stage.”
Condolences have continued to pour in for the young soccer player.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi told Weekend Argus: “It is incredibly sad that another life has been unjustly cut short. Oshwin was a young man who had so much potential, and I send my heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all those affected by this tragedy.
"Once again, we are reminded of the murder statistics in this country, and how we can almost become desensitised to these sorts of tragedies because it happens so frequently in South Africa.
“Oshwin’s untimely death is another reality check for all of us. He is not just another number that feeds into statistics."
Former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe, who was Oshwin’s favourite local player, said he too was saddened that the nation had been robbed of a talented young man.
Oshwin’s former primary school principal, Roy van Rooyen, said: “Oshwin told me two weeks ago that he wanted to take his mother out of the ghetto and this is the very same ghetto that killed him. I cried when I heard the news. He had a promising future ahead of him.”