“Anger and frustration are the only words I can think of when I saw the stoic expressions on the faces of Angela Koopman’s parents when they showed me the portrait of their daughter who was murdered by her partner after he doused her in petrol and set her alight in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain. What makes this even more heartbreaking is that she was the mother of two children aged 14 and 16,” said Head of Action Society’s Action Centre in the Western Cape, Kaylynn Palm after we were mandated to oversee the prosecution of Angela’s murder.
Angela’s mother, Jackie Koopman was called to her daughter’s house on 22 March where she found her body covered in severe burn wounds. She was immediately rushed to hospital where she died from the severe burn wounds.
The young mother was laid to rest over the weekend. Jackie described her daughter as a friendly and loving mother. “We cannot believe that our daughter is gone, and the way she was killed makes me angry. Who does that to another human being?” she pleaded.
Jackie said she will never forget the day she saw her daughter in so much pain. She remembers rubbing her daughter’s head in the ambulance on their way to the hospital.
“My daughter was suffering. My heart just sank because she didn’t deserve to get hurt or treated like that. They tried everything they could at the hospital, but they told us her burns were too severe. When we heard she passed on, I was really broken; I still am,” said Koopman.
The 64-year-old suspect has appeared in the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrates Court recently and is expected back in court on 18 April. There were a number of people supporting Angela’s family and demanded justice for her outside the court. It is clear that her death has caused a lot of outrage and pain in her community.
“According to media reports, the state prosecutor disclosed the accused had a history of common, domestic and sexual assault cases that were dropped against him. It is clear that this man belongs behind bars, and we will do everything in our power until that day comes” concluded Palm.
