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Neighbours have painted a tragic picture of the Sedgefield man accused of locking his wife in their Smutsville shack and setting it alight, as a "god-fearing" man who everyone respected.
They also revealed that wife Hester Salmans, 65, was "a mother and grandmother" to all in Smutsville, where she ran a soup kitchen to feed more than 70 of the township's children each day.
However as the 61-year-old man appeared in the Knysna magistrates court Thursday for the death of Hester, 65, in the early hours of Monday, a new charge of rape was added to the existing charges of murder, attempted murder and arson.
It emerged on Wednesday that a 14-year-old girl had escaped the massive blaze by climbing through a window, but now police investigations have shown that Salmans allegedly took her into the bushes near the N2 highway near Sedgefield and raped her earlier this year.
Police spokesman Captain Bernadine Steyn was unable to confirm exactly on which day the alleged rape occurred.
The cases were postponed until 9 March 2013 for a bail application, and the man was remanded in custody.
In Smutsville on Thursday, municipal workers were still busy clearing away the precious few remnants of what was Hester's home for more than 10 years.
An ash-strewn piece of land where their shack once stood was a stark reminder of the tragedy for residents of this close-knit community, most of whom are unemployed.
Margaret Jonas was still in shock over what had happened.
"I don't know how we will get over this," she said. "I cannot believe that Hester is gone. What shocks me even more is that it was her husband who apparently did this," she said.
"They were both such good people. She ran a soup kitchen for the kids when they came back from school. There must have been more than 70 who went to her for food every day. And he was always teaching and talking to people about god. He was a god-fearing man, someone you believed you could learn from. There was never any abuse or anything like that at that house."
Although the home of Marie "Mums" Hartnick is right next door, she was only alerted to the fire when one of the people sharing her shack told her about it.
"We did not hear screams or anything like that. I went outside and there was this big fire burning next door. I didn't even think anyone was inside. We are still in shock about this. Hester was a really good, loving person."
Neighbour Gavin Lovies said the fire had been "massive".
"We all tried to pour water on it, but even when the fire department arrived they struggled to put it out. It must have taken about two hours," he said.
