Cape Town – The nephew of slain magistrate Romay van Rooyen will have his trial heard in the Western Cape High Court.
Cassidy Hartzenberg, 18, from Mitchells Plain appeared in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
During proceedings, the indictment and summary of facts were handed over to the court.
His case is expected to head to the Western Cape High Court next month for pre-trial.
He faces charges of murder and theft.
Van Rooyen, 50, was found murdered in her home in Red Roman Street, Marina Da Gama, on September 10 last year.
Her car, a Toyota RAV4, had been stolen and was found in Mitchells Plain two days later.
Her murder sent shock waves through the judiciary.
Van Rooyen started her career as a prosecutor in 1997, prosecuting in the district and regional courts before becoming a State advocate in the Western Cape High Court.
She became an acting magistrate in 2016 and presided at various magistrate’s courts in the Western Cape. From October 1, 2021, she was permanently appointed as an additional magistrate for the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court.
It is the State’s case that Van Rooyen returned home for the weekend as she usually did.
On the day of her murder, Hartzenberg is alleged to have borrowed money and hired someone to take him to his aunt’s house.
Evidence gathered thus far suggests there was an altercation between Hartzenberg and Van Rooyen and she was killed.
The cause of death was strangulation by means unknown to the State.
Hartzenberg was arrested after his aunt’s funeral, where he was a pall-bearer.
He is expected to go on pre-trial in the Western Cape High Court on March 17.
IOL