PORT ELIZABETH, January 19 (ANA) – A pregnant woman who was seen pictured at the back of a bakkie seated in a cage, has on Thursday come to the defence of a Cradock man and claimed that he had given her a lift to a clinic.
Linda Steenkamp, 27, said that she did not want to sit in front of the vehicle as it was very hot that day.
The picture of Steenkamp circulated on social media on Thursday and sparked outrage.
The Izuzu bakkie is registered in the name of Johannes Erasmus, 41, who admitted to being the driver of the vehicle earlier this week. Erasmus, a field agent who buys and sells sheep, said that Steenkamp was a “farm lady” so she was “used to” sitting in the back.
“I was busy weighing sheep on the farm at the time when she approached me for a lift. The [cage] is removable and I use it to weigh the sheep. She asked me for a lift to the clinic so I took her into town as it was 65km from the farm,” said Erasmus.
Erasmus insisted that he had asked to her to sit in front of the vehicle.
Speaking to ANA Steenkamp said that she knew Erasmus as it was her “boss’s friend”.
However, earlier on Thursday, ANA interviewed Erasmus’s wife, Leta, who said the lady was “unknown to them”.
At the time of the interview Steenkamp was at Erasmus’s residence after he tracked her down.
“She’s at my house because everyone is phoning and wanting to speak to her,” Erasmus said.
While on the line Leta indicated that Steenkamp was “really tired” and that she had “given her food”.
“We have been receiving threats from this morning, people are threatening to come and kill us all because we gave a lady a lift. People have been phoning to ask if we paid her to say this,” said Leta.
Leta said she had since made a video so Linda could tell her side of the story.
Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Louis Stone, confirmed that police had followed up on the matter and visited the Erasmus residence on Thursday morning.
“At this stage, a case has not been opened, I can confirm that police went there but at this stage it is a civil matter,” said Stone.
Spokesperson for the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Gushwell Brooks, said that the matter had been referred to legal services.
“At this stage I cannot comment, I became aware of it this morning and referred it to our legal services unit so at this stage we are waiting for feedback,” said Brooks.
-African News Agency (ANA)
