Heartbroken mom says 'executed' Belhar plumber was in the wrong place at the wrong time
Kent Garth Witbooi, 45, tragically shot dead in a mass shooting in Delft, leaving his family devastated and struggling for a dignified farewell.
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A Belhar family have been left shattered after they were not able to give their loved one a dignified funeral a month after he was shot dead in a mass shooting in Delft.
Kent Garth Witbooi, 45, from Belhar, was among four victims shot dead last month, inside a granny flat in Zandkloof Street, Voorbrug, with the youngest victim being 13 years old - Witbooi’s girlfriend’s son.
According to police, all four victims sustained gunshot wounds to the head in what appears to be an execution-style killing.
His mother, Emily Witbooi, 80, said her son, known by his second name Garth, was called out to a plumbing job, where he was gunned down.
Emily explained: “That Wednesday morning, he left home to go to his girlfriend and said he was going to do a werkie (job) in Delft. That was the last time I saw him.
“I got a call from his girlfriend to say Garth and her son were shot dead alongside two other men at a house. I couldn’t believe it.
“When I got to the scene, there were already a lot of police vans, and the scene was cordoned off; I couldn’t even see him.
“My daughter and son had to identify his body at the morgue at Tygerberg Hospital because I did not want to see him like that. I want to remember him as I saw him.”
The family said that Witbooi was not part of any gang and had one daughter.
He will be buried by the State on Thursday.
His mother said that he did not have a funeral policy, and they also did not have any funds to bury him.
She added: “People made promises that they were going to help with the funeral, but they didn't honour those promises and disappointed us.
“We have nobody in the house who works. My one daughter lives in Macassar, and my eldest son has his own family, so he can’t help me with a large sum of money.
“I wanted to give my son a dignified funeral because he is my baby son, but I had to go to the council for assistance from the State to bury my son for free, which is so sad.
“If the state buries you, they don’t give money, flowers or pamphlets, and the body also doesn't go to the church. The body just comes home, and to the grave, that’s it.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that the circumstances surrounding this shooting incident are still under investigation, with no new developments to report at this stage.