Action Society attended proceedings this week in the murder trial of Stephan Pretorius at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, where Charlene Pretorius’s youngest daughter began her testimony about the events surrounding her mother’s death on 27 May 2023.
The teenager, who was thirteen years old at the time of the incident, testified in camera. Questions from the court were relayed to her through an intermediary while she described the final moments before her father allegedly set her mother alight.
According to her testimony, the family had met at a restaurant earlier that day. She told the court that her father appeared “on edge” and became angry after she joked about his hair in an attempt to lighten the mood. She further testified that he repeatedly tried to persuade Charlene to continue their conversation in private at a park, a suggestion that made her uncomfortable.
The witness explained that they eventually drove to Pretorius’s house. Feeling ill, she went inside to use the bathroom and lay down in what used to be her room while Charlene remained outside in the vehicle. Moments later, she heard her mother scream.
She testified that she ran to a window overlooking the gate and saw her father assaulting her mother. According to her evidence, she observed a lighter in his hand while Charlene attempted to free herself from her jacket. She then saw flames engulf her mother.
The daughter further testified that she ran outside carrying a PVC pipe and heard her father laughing while speaking about the promise “till death do us part”. As she tried to reach her mother, who was lying on the ground screaming that she was burning, Pretorius allegedly grabbed her by the collar. She struck him with the pipe and managed to escape before running to her aunt’s workplace nearby for help.
Under cross-examination, the witness told the court that she never shared a close relationship with her father. While she acknowledged that he provided for the family, she said he was “not the best father”. She also testified that she last saw him on the day Charlene was burned and that she does not miss him because of what he did to her mother.
Proceedings later shifted to disputes surrounding the police statement taken from the teenager after the incident. The court heard that portions of her account were initially given in Afrikaans, but she was instructed to continue in English because the statement could not be written in Afrikaans. Although she signed the statement, she testified that it was never read back to her. The defence indicated that it may seek a trial within a trial regarding discrepancies between the statement and her oral testimony, despite substantial overlap between the two accounts.
Action Society says the proceedings once again highlighted serious concerns about the quality of language interpretation services available in South African courts.
Juanita du Preez, spokesperson for Action Society, says the additional strain caused by poor interpretation places an unfair burden on traumatised witnesses and families already navigating deeply painful proceedings.
“It was deeply upsetting to watch a sixteen-year-old girl relive the worst day of her life while parts of her testimony had to be repeated because interpretation was inaccurate or incomplete. Important nuances were lost during translation, and at times she had to revisit traumatic moments more than once because communication in court broke down.”
Du Preez also noted that proceedings were disrupted for a period on Wednesday due to a power outage at court.
The matter was postponed to Friday due to unforeseen personal circumstances of the legal representative.
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