Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS -  The Western Cape Excellence Awards 2024/25 last Saturday, 17 January, saw Mossel Bay’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit’s investigator, Warrant Officer Soretha van Zyl, named the best FCS employee (level 5-7) of the year.

This follows the recognition Van Zyl received at the Western Cape’s FCS Awards in Worcester on 12 December as the best FCS investigator in the province.

The case that earned her both these awards was the 2024 conviction of the then 32-year-old rapist and kidnapper, Siyabonga Kiewiet. He was sentenced to nine life terms and 41 years for multiple counts of rape, assault to cause grievous bodily harm, assault common and kidnapping.

On 3 August 2019, Kiewiet kidnapped a 28-year-old woman and locked her in his room during the day while he went to work, returning at night to repeatedly rape and assault her.

 This continued until 14 August, when the victim’s co-workers traced her to this location, forced open the door and freed her.

The Mossel Bay FCS’s commander, Captain Franco Bestbier, said a sentence of nine life terms is not one the courts hand down often, and this is a testament to Van Zyl’s solid investigative work. 

He said her investigations gave the prosecutors ironclad evidence to present to the court, which secured the lengthy sentence.

Bestbier said Van Zyl is a stellar detective for the FCS and her work speaks for itself. He added that her dedication and commitment to serving the Mossel Bay community drive her and her work. 

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