Three deaths have occurred in the past few months in Jamestown, but there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the cause(s) of the deaths with guesses ranging from leopards and wild dogs to a person.
Captain Natalie Martin, a communications officer for the Stellenbosch branch of the South African Police Services (SAPS), claims that three bodies were found in Jamestown “close to the Mountview area”. She says that the three bodies were all found on different dates and “are still under investigation”.
Infographic showing the different dates that the deaths in Jamestown occurred. INFOGRAPHIC: Lia Snijman.
Martin explains that the first two bodies were attacked by a type of wild animal, but they are waiting for more detailed results from a laboratory. “The third body was also found under similar circumstances and we await lab results,” she says.
Dave Pepler, a Stellenbosch local and environmentalist, says he was approached for the first case where he identified the tracks of a big dog. His conclusion was that the dog whose tracks those were, was responsible for the first death.
Brigitte Botha, a resident in Jamestown, only knew of the first two of the deaths in Jamestown. She says the corpses were found near the soccer fields by members of the public.
Botha says, “Initially people gossiped a lot about the idea that it was a leopard or wild dogs because the corpses were in such a state.”
She explains that about a month after the second corpse was found, one of her neighbours and his friend dropped by and mentioned that a resident of Jamestown that they know has been arrested for both the murders. “Apparently this wasn’t the first time that he was involved with serious criminal behaviour and because of that, his fingerprints and DNA was already in the system.”
Botha’s neighbour was not available for comment.
Infographic showing the potential causes of the deaths in Jamestown. INFOGRAPHIC: Lia Snijman.
Leroy Williams, another Jamestown resident, knows of all three the deaths that took place there, although he is uncertain about dates. Williams echoes Botha when he mentions that the community initially thought it was a leopard that was responsible for the first two deaths that happened in a similar fashion.
He also mentions that somebody was arrested in relation to the two deaths and that the third death occurred while the arrested person was in jail. He heard that pit bulls were responsible for the third death, having torn apart the victim. To his knowledge, the dogs were taken away and nobody else was arrested.
Martin says that no arrest has been made in relation to any of the cases yet. She adds that any rumours of an arrested person are “not true”.
Rikus Badenhorst, the councillor for the ward that Jamestown falls under, cannot comment due to the investigation around the deaths being ongoing.