dancing through life

I’ve been wondering for a while if I should write this post, see I’m wondering if anyone’s going to read it and I’m afraid that if someone does they’re going to think to themselve ‘o, no not again will she just stop this!’ And then it hit me that is exactally why I am going to write this because I don’t want people to turn they’re eyes away I don’t want them to get use to the wrong in this world every time must be as outragous as the last and we must stand up and do something!

Let me give backround information for those of you who don’t know the story…

Steven Siebert (6) went missing two days before christmas in 2005. Thomas Siebert (Steven’s father): “The people that saw him last … the lady who went to the shops when she came back she saw him hanging in the tree and the man that was with him and holding him when he was climbing the tree. That tree is probably less than five meters away from where Elaine (steven’s mother) was sitting with her back to the window. That is how brazen he was in approaching Steven.”

His parents, Thomas and Elaine can’t believe how quickly it happened.
A handyman employed there matched the description of the suspect last seen with Steven. The owner alerted the police and they arrested 47-year-old Raymond Sinclair.
He denied any knowledge of Steven’s whereabouts. But the next day, on Christmas Eve, the six-year-old’s body was found in the bushes next to the house Sinclair was renovating. Steven had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

On Christmas Day the shocking truth emerged. In a full confession to a magistrate he admitted to coaxing Steven to the house. The little boy’s footprints could still be seen in the pile of sand outside the garage. Inside he allegedly indecently assaulted and murdered him, before dumping the body in the bushes. What’s more is that the killer’s real name is Theuns Christiaan Olivier.
Olivier has a criminal record in Zimbabwe that spans two decades. In 1979 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for indecent assault of children. But even then he was a smooth operator – he was released after six weeks for good behaviour. But his conduct didn’t change and children were never safe from him.

In January 1985 a child he indecently assaulted got his registration number and that is when he was brought to book. He had gone through to Harare,  and he saw this child and offered him a lift. The boy was threatened by Chris with a pair of scissors but he kept his wits about him and after he was dropped off he went home and told his parents and he then described everything to the police including the registration number.

Olivier was arrested and it seemed that this time the wily predator would be stopped. But again he conned his way out of custody. While awaiting trial he bribed a policeman for his uniform and escaped. His wife turned him in. In court, he managed to persuade the judge that he was not responsible for his actions and received an indeterminate sentence under the Mental Health Act. But the full extent of his crimes was never revealed.

After studying theology for 16 years in prison, Olivier managed to convince a psychiatrist that he’d been rehabilitated. In 2000, he was granted a presidential pardon and released.

Olivier arrived in Ladysmith KwaZulu-Natal shortly after the start of the new millennium.He lived at Matthews Farm, a shelter for vagrants, and a halfway house for foster children. He became a member of the Ladysmith Methodist Church, and gained the trust of the minister who gave him a position as a Sunday school teacher.

He again was arrested for indecent assault in 2004.The Ladysmith police never investigated his background and never discovered his true identity or his criminal record. After numerous postponements the prosecutor failed to confirm whether the Director of Public Prosecutions wanted to proceed with the case, and withdrew the charges. Once more a dangerous, serial paedophile walked out a free man.

And then came December 2005… (there has been other speculations of assault against children but no proof) and he went further then usual he murderd a 6 year old boy! Sixteen months after Steven’s murder (April 2007), Olivier is yet to stand trial, he is still in a police cell in Knysna. Thomas and Elaine have battled to get information about their son’s case.

Elaine (steven’s mother): “One comment was made to me that you know I must remember that Steven was not the only murder that happened in that area in December and my response to that was ‘yes, but he was my only son who was murdered in December’. I think that kind of feeling and lack of empathy pervades our whole system. People have become a number.”

As of today Steven’s murderer has been on trial and despite his confession he pleaded not guilty and claimed phyciatric problems although he has been examened by three Phychiatrists  and was pronounced mentally fit.  If Olivier can prove that he is mentally ill, he may be able to avoid a prison sentence and instead be referred to a psychiatric facility.
In the meantime the trial has been delayed for another six weeks. I will try and keep up with the case and let you know what happens… But the fact of the matter is that this man got away with crimes commited to children that we don’t even want to think about it and in the end people made it so easy for him that he could kill an inoccent child…

I know it is easier not to know this stuff and not to think about it but if we start turning our backs on our children then we might as well give up hope because they are our hope, future,love and they trust us (or are supposed to) Let’s not turn our backs lets start fighting for our children!!!

Long time no write… I know…

Well some of my english friends convinced me to write in english all though I hope that they will remember our deal (I’ll do it even though it takes me 6 times longer if they comment)

 Here goes: about two weekends back we had our theology camp at “klein kariba” actually theology camp is the wrong word because it was only for the dutch reformed students. But any how.  I had to organize it and all in all I think it went very well. 

We decided before hand that we are going to have a open conversation camp, no lectures just us talking together about the stuff that is important to us… After talking to one of the referents that went along (Immaneul van Tonder) we found a name for it: Open space a very good method in my oppinion but that’s not what I want to talk about now.

What got my attention was the theme’s (if you want to call it that) that we chose ’cause see with open space you don’t decide before hand on a theme for the camp the group decide’s that together. All of them were very good and interesting but amazed me.  We talked about demons, theology students in hostel, the dutch reformed church and english, theology students and their own spirituality, and two others (sorry I know what they are but if you’re going to ask me to write it in english I’m going to make a fool out of myself:)) in Afrikaans it is Die hierargie wat besig is om die kerk te smoor, en die Christelike neorose van die kerk. 

Well my problem, no I refrase it’s not a problem because most of the themes were important let’s rather say what caught my attention was that poverty, aids, violence, the lack of enough homes for orphanes the merging of the dutch reformed church with the VGK, how the church takes care of it’s people especialy it’s children ect. was never mentioned…

Why I asked myself?  Is it because they just don’t care, is it because they hear so much about it that they are just so tired of the subject that they don’t want to talk about it, is it because really don’t know much about it, is it because they don’t think it has anything to do with the church or is it just not that important…?  I don’t know the anwser (as usual) and I don’t really blame them or think less of them or think that the themes they chose were elementary I was just wondering when are we going to get our chruches to care more about these things than about their budgets ect. if our theology students don’t even think about these things and they’re suppose to be at least the ones that still care, the ones others might think to be naive because they still see the good in others and because they still have hope for the world 🙂 Yes I know I can’t really talk but I was just wondering…