Magistrate Romay van Rooyen was found dead in her home in Marina da Gama in September last year. Her nephew, Cassidy Hartzenberg, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her murder.
Magistrate Romay van Rooyen's nephew was sentenced in the Western Cape High Court, last Friday, to 20 years in prison for her murder.
Cassidy Hartzenberg, 20, got an effective 20 years direct imprisonment for murdering his aunt and six years for stealing her vehicle, following a plea deal. The sentences will run concurrently.
Hartzenberg made a brief appearance in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday September 29 last year, following his arrest at his Mitchell’s Plain home two days earlier (“‘Close relative’ of murdered magistrate appears in court,” Echo, September 29)
He pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Van Rooyen at her Marina da Gama home in Red Roman Street on Saturday September 10. Her body was found by a relative at 4.15pm at her home on the day.
In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority said the State had asked the court to impose a stiffer sentence than the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years direct imprisonment due to the seriousness of the offences.
According to the statement, Hartzenberg admitted he had had a good relationship with his aunt who emotionally and financially supported him and his family.
“Mr Hartzenberg claimed that he visited her on the day of her murder to ask for financial assistance for a job application. They were sitting in the lounge when he asked her, but she refused, got up and went into her bedroom.
“He followed her and she was facing away from him when he entered her bedroom. He put his hands around her neck and strangled her. She resisted and fought for her life,” the statement said.
He stayed with her body until the early hours of the next day and then drove her vehicle to Westgate Mall, Mitchell’s Plain, and later abandoned it on Jakes Gerwel Drive, Mitchell’s Plain.
Ms Van Rooyen started her career in 1997 as a prosecutor, first working in the district and regional courts before moving to the Western Cape High Court.
Before she was appointed a permanent additional magistrate at the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court in October 2021, she was an acting presiding officer at various magistrate’s courts in the province.
In 2014, in the Western Cape High Court, Ms Van Rooyen, serving as a prosecutor, secured three life sentences for former motor mechanic Johannes Christiaan de Jager, who was convicted of murdering two teenagers.