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- The man accused of murdering eight-year-old Tazné van Wyk faces 27 charges, including multiple rape counts, sexual assault, incest and desecration of a corpse. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
- The accused can no longer be named due to the nature of the testimony, which involves minors.
- Van Wyk was last seen alive in February 2020 in the presence of the man accused of her murder.
The former wife of the man accused of raping and murdering eight-year-old Tazné van Wyk had to confront what are believed to be dark family secrets when she testified in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday about the alleged sexual abuse of a child relative.
The accused is on trial for the rape and murder of Van Wyk, who disappeared from Elsie's River and was later found dead in a storm drain outside Worcester.
His former wife helped to lure him out of hiding in Cradock, but this ultimately unraveled the closely guarded secrets that she had kept for so long.
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She is testifying in exchange for immunity from prosecution for not reporting the alleged incidents.
None of the parties can be named anymore as the trial delves into the allegations of sexual abuse and the alleged beatings of relatives that were discovered during the investigation.
It is alleged that on one occasion, the accused put his hand in a child's crotch as he helped her get onto a bakkie. On another, it is alleged, two small children in the family wore extra trousers when he "used a genuine leather belt" to beat them for doing something wrong.
The woman had to explain why she never told the police about the alleged sexual abuse claim - something the accused flatly denied.
"She (the child) begged me not to tell anyone," the woman said, as she stood with hunched shoulders, wiping tears from her cheeks.
Van Wyk disappeared from outside her house in Connaught Estate, Elsies River, on 7 February 2020.
The shop she was headed towards was mere metres from her front gate.
At the time, the accused was on parole for culpable homicide in connection with the death of a child.
Questions were raised about the effectiveness of parole when it emerged that parole officers could not find him at his given address for weeks.
The trial continues.
