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The Oudtshoorn Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced 39-year-old Drezene Jonkerman to 20 years in prison after she confessed to killing her seven-year-old son, Ashwin, on her birthday.
The child’s death on August 11, 2024, followed a morning of drug use that spiraled into tragedy.
Jonkerman, a mother from Oudtshoorn’s Korhaan Avenue, admitted to strangling her son in a fit of rage after hallucinating that his face resembled his father’s. The father, she claimed, had been abusive and controlling during their relationship.
The court heard that the day began with a visit from a friend. The two women used drugs before the friend left. Alone with her son, Jonkerman began preparing for church. It was then, she said, that the hallucination struck.
While washing Ashwin, she became overwhelmed with anger as memories of her ex-partner surfaced. In a sudden act of violence, she strangled the boy until his body went limp, then carried him to her bedroom.
Hours later, she attended a church service as if nothing had happened. When she returned home, she found her son’s lifeless body exactly where she had left it. Only then did she alert a neighbour and call an ambulance. Paramedics could only confirm the child’s death.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila detailed the chilling sequence of events, quoting Jonkerman’s confession as recorded in her plea agreement with the State.
“She started washing him and was thinking about the boy’s father while washing the deceased. She saw the child’s father in her mind’s eye and got very angry. She started strangling him until his body became limp,” Ntabazalila said.
Prosecutors described the killing as “cruel and senseless,” arguing that it was aggravated by Jonkerman’s voluntary drug use and the vulnerability of her victim — her own child.
During mitigation, Jonkerman’s legal team painted a picture of a woman trapped in years of abuse. She claimed to have suffered physical and sexual violence at the hands of Ashwin’s father, but never reported it due to financial dependence and fear.
However, the prosecution challenged her version. Regional court prosecutor Goulding Hyron presented testimony from the boy’s father, who denied any history of abuse. He admitted to drug use but said their relationship ended when Jonkerman began selling household belongings to fund her addiction.
“The father of the deceased was traumatised by the murder,” Hyron said. “He and his two other children are still minors, and this tragedy continues to haunt them.”
The court also heard that Jonkerman’s descent into addiction had been rapid. Just a week before the murder, her pastor — who was also her employer — had questioned her absence from church. She allegedly told him that drug dealers had beaten her over unpaid debts.
Her pastor had tried to intervene, but the warning signs went unnoticed.
When the sentence was delivered, the courtroom was tense. Jonkerman showed little emotion as Judge Elmarie van der Walt read the ruling: 25 years in prison, five of which were suspended for five years on condition she does not commit another murder.
She will serve at least two-thirds of her sentence before being eligible for parole.
The court also declared her unfit to work with children or possess a firearm upon release.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the sentence but expressed shock at the nature of the crime.
“This is a callous and tragic act — a mother taking the life of her own child,” Bell said. “Drug abuse remains one of the biggest threats to families and communities, often pushing people to commit unthinkable acts.”
The NPA echoed her sentiments, saying the case underscored the devastating link between substance abuse and violent crime.
The community of Oudtshoorn has struggled to come to terms with the killing. Residents described Jonkerman as quiet but increasingly unstable in the months leading up to the incident.
“She wasn’t the same person anymore,” said one neighbour, who asked not to be named. “We used to see her going to church, but later she started locking herself inside for days. The drugs changed her completely.”
Another resident said the tragedy had left many questioning how such warning signs were missed.
“We see it all the time — drugs destroying homes, mothers and fathers losing their minds,” she said. “But to think a mother could do this to her child, it’s beyond understanding.”
Social workers in the area have since called for greater support systems for parents struggling with addiction, arguing that rehabilitation should be made more accessible before problems escalate.
According to police data, child murders linked to drug use have been on the rise in the Western Cape, particularly in communities battling poverty and addiction.
The court’s decision, while welcomed, has reopened a painful debate about accountability, rehabilitation, and the protection of children in drug-ravaged homes.
For Jonkerman, the next two decades will be spent behind bars — a punishment the court hopes will bring some measure of justice for Ashwin.
But for Oudtshoorn, the scars remain. A small boy lost his life in the one place he should have been safe — in his mother’s arms.
