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The chainsaw roared to life and Beauty Busuku-Makoma’s blood ran cold as the sound of her child’s screams also pierced the quiet evening. The man holding the chainsaw was using it to attack her husband, Andy, in front of their home in Franschhoek in the Western Cape.
Andy survived the horrific attack but doctors have had to amputate his badly injured arm. He’s in a critical condition in Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville.
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The alleged attacker, their neighbour Elroy Erasmus (34), has been arrested and has appeared in court, where he faces a charge of attempted murder. It’s alleged he attacked Andy (36) after accusing him of insulting his wife.
His bail application was set to go ahead today (19 August). National prosecuting authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the state would oppose the application.
Beauty (38) told YOU she’d been inside the house on the evening of 7 August, Andy’s birthday, when she heard her son screaming outside.
“I ran outside to see what was going on. That’s when I saw someone attacking my husband with a chainsaw. ”Andy had been celebrating his birthday that Saturday evening when there was an altercation outside their gate. Beauty says Zimbabwean-born Andy had just arrived home when a woman tried to block him from driving through the gate.
“The woman was arguing with him and he came inside and told me about it. I then saw two women walking down the street – they live in our street. I told him he could drive inside because they’d gone.”
When Andy later went outside to lock the car, the woman’s husband was at the gate, and he allegedly asked Andy why he’d insulted his wife.
“They argued and the man got very angry. I was too scared to say anything. I apologised to the man and asked if we could continue the conversation the next day, when everyone had calmed down,” Beauty says.
The man then allegedly started hitting Andy, she says, and all she could do was scream. The attacker left and Beauty went back inside.
“Andy’s brother, who was also there, was outside with my son and Andy, and then I heard the noise of a machine but I didn’t know what was happening.”
“I ran outside and saw my husband’s brother trying to stop the man, who now had a chainsaw. The man tried to attack him too and wounded his leg. He’s not as badly hurt as Andy,” she says, her voice shaking.
Andy, who’s a gardener and landscaper, had to have his arm amputated and will need more surgery. He remains heavily sedated in hospital.
“The doctors say he’s in a lot of pain and they don’t want to keep him awake,” says Beauty, adding that he also sustained wounds to his other arm, his face and neck.Her son saw the entire incident.
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“My son isn’t okay. He refuses to go to school. We’re all terrified and none of us are sleeping at night. My son can’t handle this. He’s badly traumatised.”
Beauty says a social worker was going to be visiting the family to offer trauma counselling, but they’re all struggling to deal with the horrific incident.
“My life is hell. My husband is the breadwinner because I don’t have a job. I can’t even buy milk or maize to feed my children,” she says. The couple also has three-year-old twin daughters.
One of Andy’s employers has started a BackaBuddy campaign to help the family. So far, R76 000 has been raised. The target is R100 000.
