Jessica Rabe: Family Shares Heartbreak After Her Murder Leaves Them With More Questions
- The family of Jessica Rabe have broken their silence about the discovery of her body in a yard in Boksburg
- Rabe and her boyfriend, Yudistan Pillay, went missing in July 2026 and were found dead six weeks later
- Two 27-year-old men face charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, and assault in the Boksburg Magistrate's Court
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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online.
GAUTENG – The family of Jessica Rabe has broken their silence after her tragic murder.
The bodies of Rabe and her boyfriend Yudistan Pillay were found buried in a shallow grave in a Boksburg yard on 30 August 2026. The grim discovery came after six weeks of searching by police, private investigators, and community groups, bringing heartbreak to two families who had clung to hope since they vanished on 17 July 2026.
The couple's remains were uncovered in the Van Dyk area after Dawn Park police received a tip-off about the missing pair. Two men, Haroon Rashid Adam and Wessel Hendrick Swart, have since appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate's Court on charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, assault, and defeating the ends of justice.
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A family left with no answers
For Rabe's family, the pain of her death is deepened by the questions that remain. Her aunt and family spokesperson, Linda du Plessis, said the family was still awaiting the results of an autopsy and could not yet understand what had happened or why.
"We have so many questions and just hope we will get answers as to what exactly happened to them, and why," du Plessis told News24.
"This is not the right way for any person to go."
She added that nobody in the family had physically seen Rabe on the day she disappeared, though she had been in contact with her mother and grandmother.
A mother’s heartbreak
Following her death, her mother Aisha Erika Laher has shared several emotional posts on Facebook, describing her daughter as her "only princess."
"Rest in peace, my dearest and only princess. Mom will miss you so. My heart is broken; you kept me alive; for you, I lived. Now they took you so brutally away from me," Laher wrote.
She vowed not to stop until justice was served.
Missing Mpumalanga woman found in shallow grave
Briefly News also reported that a woman who went missing in Mpumalanga was found dead in a shallow grave a week after her disappearance.
Bonisiwe Mabuza went missing, and her car was found abandoned. The South African Police Service suspected she was also a house robbery victim.
Three men were arrested for the gruesome murder, and South Africans were hurt and angry that another woman died.
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Source: Briefly News
