In South Africa, roughly one murder takes place every 20 minutes.

That equates to between 69 and 75 people killed every day, based on recent national crime data. These figures reflect only cases that enter the official system and exclude deaths that go unreported or are misclassified.

This has become the backdrop against which violent crime has unfolded over the past decades in a country where so-called leaders, when placed under scrutiny, shout “Ubuntu!” from the rainbow rooftop of parliament, a concept meant to embody mutual responsibility, compassion and dignity. Little wonder, then, that South Africa is increasingly viewed on the international stage as the blockage in a sewage system everyone recognises, but no one wants to touch.

Murders accumulate faster than cases are resolved, leaving families without answers long after crime scenes are cleared. Behind these numbers are individual cases. One of them is the murder of Peet van Es.

BARBERTON: Below, the 2017 interview with Arine Prins, conducted by Africa InTouch News’ Anchen Coetzee.

Nine years after he was brutally murdered on their farm just outside the town of Barberton, Mpumalanga, his widow, Arine Prins, is still waiting for answers. After all this time, Prins has again made contact with Africa InTouch News, reaching out to this journalist, who reported on the case in 2017.

According to Prins, it is the absence of accountability that has forced her to speak out again.

“Nine years on, the crime that tore my family apart remains unresolved, despite my repeated engagement with the authorities and the provision of information that could and should by now have advanced the investigation,” she said.

On the night of Friday, April 7, and into the early hours of Saturday, April 8, 2017, Prins and her husband suffered severely at the hands of five cold-blooded murderers who invaded their home. What followed was hours of deliberate, sustained violence.

Both Prins and Van Es endured extreme brutality. They were beaten, restrained, threatened, and terrorised. Prins was assaulted while being forced to listen as her husband was tortured for hours. During that attack, Peet van Es was murdered in cold blood in the couple’s bedroom.

Soon after the murder, Prins left South Africa and relocated to the Netherlands. Responsibility for investigating the crime, however, remained with South African law enforcement.

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Africa InTouch NewsAnchen Coetzee

Prins said the digital trail linked to her husband did not end in 2017. Over the years, Prins supplied police with serial numbers of stolen items, known email addresses linked to her late husband, and all other information that could assist investigators.

“In 2018, someone logged into Peet’s Facebook account and changed his profile picture,” she said. She added that despite providing an official death certificate, she has never been able to gain access to his Gmail account, and that one of his accounts has since disappeared entirely. Prins said she still has access to her husband’s old phone number as a verification option, but that the number is now in the possession of another person who “refuses to cooperate or assist me in any way”.

More recently, she became aware of an attempted login to her Facebook account from KwaZulu-Natal, using the Samsung cellphone stolen during the attack, indicating that at least one of the stolen devices remains in use.

Despite this lead, nothing followed.

Dutch police advised her to return to South Africa to pursue the matter after SAPS indicated that a hearing would require her physical presence. “F@ck that! They must think I have a death wish,” Prins said, adding that she requested a video appearance via Skype or WhatsApp, but was told she would have to appear in person.

After years of waiting, Prins lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). The complaint relates to the handling of the case, failures in communication, and the continued absence of transparency. According to her, the IPID process has also produced no answers to date.

Correspondence reviewed by Africa InTouch News shows repeated attempts by Prins to obtain clarity from senior police officials.

During her meeting with Africa InTouch News this morning, Prins also recalled the conduct of police officers on the day her husband was murdered. “Officers moved through my home with casual familiarity and disrespect. One officer engaged in small talk, asking when I would be leaving the country and commenting on items in the house she would like to have, at a time when my husband lay lifeless upstairs.”

Where does Arine Prins go now?

She has followed procedure. She has provided information. She has lodged formal complaints. She has waited.

One murder every 20 minutes, 75 lives taken every single day.

South Africans from all walks of life have learned to suppress the impact of relentless violence, not because it matters less, but because fully absorbing each killing has become impossible in a society where murder has been folded into the rhythm of everyday life.

Yet, behind many of those deaths is a family trying to find answers.

Arine Prins is one of them.

Nine years later, she is still waiting and the consequences of that dreadful day remain unresolved.