supplied
Murdered parents Johan and Rickie Lotter. Picture: supplied
It was possibly the biggest test of his faith when the Reverend Willem Lotter had to practise what he preached and try to forgive his niece and nephew for murdering their father – his brother.
The Dutch Reformed Church dominee from Cape Town said forgiveness was a process – and he had only just begun that process.
He publicly apologised for turning his back on the siblings. And his eyes were brimming with tears when he hugged Nicolette and Hardus Lotter as they made their way out of the court to begin serving their prison sentences.
“We believe that the court process has produced the truth that we were longing for,” he said in a statement released on behalf of the family afterwards.
“We are exhausted… emotionally drained because of the gruesome details. But the truth enables us to take on the long walk of reconciliation.
“We hope to now carry on with our lives. We are realistic that closure will not happen overnight and the process has only just begun,” he said.
Earlier, Lotter testified in mitigation of sentence, reducing both Hardus and Nicolette to tears when he said: “I stand here on behalf of your parents. If they were here, they would stand in mitigation for you,” before repeating the murdered couple’s last words – “I love you my child” and “my son, we can work this out” – as they were being killed.
“We are committed to forgive you. We still love you. We hate what you have done,” said Lotter.
“Forgive me that I did not give you water when you were thirsty and clothes when you had to appear in court and for not visiting you in prison. I was angry.
“No family member will welcome you into their homes because they still do not trust you completely. We have only just begun to forgive and we trust in God that sometime we will do so completely.”
Lotter described Nicolette’s and Hardus’s family as “very normal” and functional, with the usual ups and downs.
Hardus was an even-tempered “lovable boy”, interested in all things electronic and how things were made.
Nicolette was an introvert with a strong will and an artist’s temperament, more interested in playing her guitar than socialising.
“She was always fascinated with the supernatural and then she became interested in witchcraft. I did my best to convince her that the redemption power of the blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient protection to keep us from evil, but she became obsessed. And this obsession led her on a mission to find answers and this led to the worst tragedy imaginable,” Lotter said.
He described the family’s agony, first at learning of the murders, then on hearing that Nicolette and Hardus were responsible, and realising on that Johan and Rickie had been “betrayed from within” – and that no amount of security cameras could have protected them.
“My mother lost her ability to speak and died three days later of a stroke. My father slid into dementia. I thank God that he is demented, as is Rickie’s mother, and this (trial) will pass them by.
“Others in the family have had to go for psychiatric treatment and are on medication. Many of us are still stuck somewhere in the bereavement process.”
Lotter said that, when Hardus turned 21 in jail in March 2009, he and his sister, Antoinette, had gone to the prison “to give him the gift of forgiveness”.
Following this, the family had had a “restorative justice session” with the siblings, “which was a very difficult encounter”.
“We met murderers that day, but we also met children we knew and loved. It was the start of forgiveness.”
He said that the crime warranted “severe punishment”, but both needed psychological help and Nicolette needed to overcome her pre-occupation with witchcraft.
“Society will never forget this crime, and neither will they,” said Lotter.
