“Real men don’t hurt or kill the women and children in their lives. Real men love and protect them. If you are an abuser, you sow trauma into your relationships and you treat women like trash. That makes you trauma trash. Aaliyah Chingy’s killer is not a man. He is trauma trash and should be permanently removed from society. That is why our team will continue to support her family and oversee her case until justice is served for Aaliyah,” said Kaylynn Palm, Action Centre Coordinator at Action Society.
Moeneeb Hess appeared before the Bellville Regional Court on Monday and the case was postponed to 20 September so that the legal aid attorney appointed for his case could come onto the record for the accused. Until now, the case has been postponed more than six times.
Aaliyah and Hess met in 2021, but Aaliyah’s family was unaware of the abuse she suffered in the relationship until January this year when Aaliyah contacted her sister from the Delft police station and told her that Hess had assaulted her with a spade. A month later, the family got worried after they couldn’t reach Aaliyah. It was too late. She was beaten to death, and later found dead in a shallow grave on 12 February 2023.
Aaliyah’s father told us that he would never be rid of the last picture of Aaliyah in his mind. “He described to us that her face was ruined. She had blood coming from her ears and you could see all her wounds. He added that even if Hess went to jail for the rest of his life, he would still get up every day while Aaliyah will never see the sun rise again.” according to Palm.
“It is cases like these that drive us to continue on our cause. Action Society wants to rid society of violence against women and children. Not only do we want to see justice prevail, but also want to empower the victims and their families to go from being victims to flourishing as victors who are able to continue living their lives.”
