Gruesome: The Crimes and Criminals That Shook South Africa

by De Wet Potgieter

In this book, investigative journalist De Wet Potgieter follows the trail of a number of criminals in South Africa’s history. These violent crimes, perpetrated from the late 1980s into the new millennium, vary from fanatical far-rightists who killed their innocent countrymen, to assassins who executed high-profile, state-sanctioned murders. He takes the reader behind the scenes of some of the most controversial events in our country and, with his fearless style of writing, pulls you right into the belly of the beast.
In Gruesome, he shares information that has never before been made public. What really happened on the night of 17 June 1992 in Boipatong? What motivated the horrific attack on Alison Botha? What caused the ostensibly conformist policeman André Stander to become an unscrupulous bank robber? Who was the first person to see the connection between Gert van Rooyen’s victims and a probable human-trafficking network?
Potgieter relates how, as a journalist, he went about reporting on each of these interesting, gruesome cases. This book takes you back to the bloody newspaper headlines of yesterday.

Genres: True Crime

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

My name is Andrew. I live in South Africa and I have a problem with crime. Real crime. Actual crime. It keeps me awake at night and distracts me during the day. And because there are so many amazing books out there about local crime, I don’t see my addiction changing soon…

My most recent delving into the dark and wicked is the aptly named “Gruesome”, an investigation into not one, but ten of South Africa’s most chilling crimes. The book is written by De Wet Potgieter, an investigative journalist known for his books, “Total Onslaught” and “Black Widow, White Widow”, as well his extensive newspaper reporting for the past 30 years.

Potgieter is a wonderful guide into these criminal’s psyches, providing objective overviews and a readable writing style that ensures the reader’s full attention. But the real magic of Potgieter is that he reported on all of these crimes as they happened, so the reader is given the facts, some of which I certainly had never been made aware of before…

Although most of the crimes in this book have never been out of the public’s heart and mind, many have been out of the public eye for a while. Remember watching the exploits of the Stander gang? Or wondering about the mysterious assassination of Johan Heyns? And watching the abductions of young girls end with the Gert van Rooyen’s murder of his lover and his subsequent suicide? Potgieter yanks these and another seven cases back into the present, making them as significant today as they were in the dark recesses of the past.

Read this book to gain the objective overview that the newspapers never quite provided, read it to remember the tragedies of evil minds from the past. But don’t read it if you want a light, easy read – the victims, given a voice by De Wet Potgieter, will not allow that.

[Bothma van Tonder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose it's not quite apt to say that a book about crime is "fun", but this book was definitely fun to read. It's a sort of quick compendium of some of the most high profile crimes in the recent history of South Africa, written in a very casual and easy to read style. Very enjoyable

[Malcolm Fenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book focusing on some horrific crimes in South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s. I would have preferred to have a bit more background on the perpetrator and victims, but all in all a very good book about a tense part of South Africa's history.

[Ipeleng Chauke · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely read, I am familiar with most stories in the book - Its always good to learn about other atrocities. I still hope Dr Robert Smit and wife, Jean-Corra and Johan Heyns assassins could be brought to book, their children need to know. So do I.

Well done Mr Potgieter