Cape Town - A man from Lutzville-West, accused of murdering 21-year-old Carmen Gouws, has pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Calvin Cloete, 35, appeared in the Vredendal Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, where his guilty plea detailed how he assaulted the young woman, raped her and later murdered her.
The case garnered significant attention not only for its harrowing nature, but also for the swift efforts of detective Rugene Links, which led to Cloete's conviction.
Gouws, Cloete’s ex-girlfriend, was brutally murdered on her 21st birthday on October 7, 2023.
She was axed to death before children from the West Coast community found her bloody body. Weeks before her death, Cloete was a free man after spending some time in prison for stalking and stabbing Gouws.
Cloete detailed in his plea that on the day of the murder, he had an axe and was threatening Gouws, forcing her to go with him.
“While we were walking, I became so angry that I assaulted her by hitting her all over her body and kicking her with my shoes. I also took the axe that I had with me and fatally assaulted the complainant with the axe and with my fist and feet. I admit that when I assaulted her with the axe, I had the intention to kill her.
“I admit that the cause of death as noted by the pathologist was blunt force trauma to the body. I knew my actions were wrongful and that I could be punished,” the document read.
Cloete is expected to be sentenced on October 29. Gouws’s mother, Brenda Gouws, shared how she is coping with the loss, emphasising the emotional weight that accompanies such a tragedy.
“I am still very sad because I couldn’t even celebrate my child’s birthday. I don’t want to ever see him again because of what he did to me, he broke my heart in two and that wound can’t be healed,” she said.