Juanita Pieters, the mother of murdered Courtney Pieters, 3, has laid charges after her neighbour allegedly stole nearly R200 000 from her.
The man from Delft is being sought by police after R193 755.25 went missing from Juanita’s bank account.
Juanita says she received the money as part of a settlement,
following her divorce from her
husband.
She says she trusted her friend and community worker, Colin
Sellar, 48, and his wife Lascka, with her bank card, as she was afraid she’d lose it.
The mom of four, who suffers from TB of the brain, says she wanted to use the money to rebuild her life.
She says she kept asking Sellar if her money had been paid in, but he said no.
Meanwhile, the neighbour allegedly started living it up, buying a car, tiling their home and buying new furniture, and even installed a fancy new ceiling with down-lights in their living room.
The couple resides close to Juanita in Delft, where she moved after receiving a new house from then President Jacob Zuma.
Before that, the family had lived in Pluto Street, Elsies River, when little Courtney was raped and murdered by their boarder, Mortimer Saunders, in March 2016.
CHARGES: Case of theft opened against Colin and his wife Lascka Sellar
Saunders has been sentenced to 50 years in jail without parole.
Juanita did not want to reveal the identity of her ex-husband, who is the father of one of her four
children.
She has three children with Courtney’s father, Aaron Fourie.
“I got divorced from my husband in Tulbagh and was notified that there was a settlement to be paid to me in the amount of R193 755.25,” she explains.
“Colin and Lascka were always there for me, so when I had to open a bank account and get a lawyer, I asked them for help.
“He emailed everything on his computer. We calculated the
payment would happen in May and then he started having a lot of money in April. I kept asking him to check the account.
“Then he bought lots of stuff. He said he was making the money from Delft Technical High School where he invigilated exams,” Juanita says.
She says on 2 May, he came to her and told her there was R60 000 in her account, and that the rest of the settlement would be paid next year.
But when she went to withdraw some money, she noticed there was only R41 000 in the account.
Juanita says in total she only withdrew R23 000 from her bank account before it was empty.
“All I bought was a washing machine, stove, kitchen cupboards, three cellphones and groceries. I am sick to my stomach,” says the distraught mother.
She believes Sellar got access to her account after her sim card was stolen out of her cellphone at their house in April - her cell number was linked to her bank account.
Last week, she finally plucked up the courage to go into the bank, where it was revealed that she had received nearly R200 000 on 5 April.
She was also shown where the money was being withdrawn, while ATM footage revealed the identity of the skelms.
Colin and his wife Lascka Sellar's fancy ceiling
“Colin and Lascka can be seen on the footage. I was shocked,” she said.
“I was told to open a case at the police station and they blocked my card and his account. They took every cent. He still bought two R12 airtime vouchers with the last R24.
“I cannot believe what they have done. I trusted them.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana confirms a case of theft has been opened.
Sellar has been in the news before.
In 2017, he was living in a toilet in Blikkiesdorp and his baby had become very ill from the cold. He wrote a heart-rending letter to a newspaper and in December that year, the family moved into a house allocated to him by the Department of Human Settlements.
Juanita says she even paid Sellar and his wife for helping her: “I gave him R3 000 and R100 extra for taking me to the ATM. I want my money that he stole. Every cent of it.”
The Daily Voice called, emailed and sent messages to Sellar’s phone, but he did not respond.
We also visited his home but nobody responded to knocks at the door, although a child could be heard crying inside.
Meanwhile, Juanita says Lascka contacted her on Tuesday, claiming that she did not know that her
husband “had done all this” and even offered to sell their house to repay her.
She also claimed Sellar had been arrested.
However, when the Daily Voice contacted police to confirm this, spokesperson Siyabulela Malo said: “Delft police can confirm that the suspect in this matter is not yet arrested.”