JOHANNESBURG – The ‘Modimolle monster’ was a normal child who grew up in a ‘good home’ said people who went to school with Johan Kotzé at the Wennie du Plessis High School in Gobabis, Namibia.
Kotzé’s only surviving family members, his sisters Anita Engelbrecht and Carina van de Venter, were supporting him despite his alleged acts of horror.Engelbrecht wrote on Facebook that she was Johan Kotzé’s sister and was not ashamed of him. She said she still loved him.Thinus Maritz from Cape Town said he was 13 when he got to know Kotzé and his family. He said he could see nothing amiss in the home but remembered that Kotzé had been adopted.Kotzé’s biological parents apparently died when he was very young. A woman from Henties Bay then looked after him until he was adopted.His adopted father was a farmer and ‘like any other dad’ while his adopted mother was described as very capable.Another old school friend, Herman Strauss from Boksburg, said he spent five years in boarding school with Kotzé in Gobabis.He said Kotzé was a normal child, naughty at times, but remembered lots of laughter and playing.’Where it all went wrong, I don’t know,’ said Strauss. The Kotzés later moved to Prieska in the Northern Cape.A family friend said Kotzé was a controversial figure in town and most people had nothing good to say about him.Kotzé was the sheriff of the court and was accused of murdering a local woman but was acquitted.Kotzé is facing 17 charges relating to the vicious assault and rape of his estranged wife, Ina Bonnette, 42, and the murder of her son, Conrad. – Rapport
