SIX months after 11-year-old Zarah Ramsamy, 11, was killed in a hijacking in Malvern, her mother has found it in her heart to forgive the men who took her daughter’s life.
But Shay Ramsamy, 38, wants justice and has called on police to ‘shake-up the case’ and swiftly arrest all the suspects linked to her daughter’s murder.
In an interview with POST on Thursday, Ramsamy said she had learnt forgiveness from Zarah.
“The Bible teaches us about forgiveness and I do forgive them. But I want them to face the full punishment. On the Monday, before the hijacking, Zarah spoke to me about forgiveness while I drove her to school.
“She said ‘mummy, even though people laugh at me when I tell them about Jesus, I forgive them’. I told her that I did not forgive anyone who laughed at my child. She said ‘no mummy, you have to forgive them because Jesus said that we have to be forgiving’. I said ‘okay baby, I will learn to forgive and become a forgiving person’.
“Little did I know that two days later, my perfect little girl would be brutally snatched from me and I would be required to forgive her killers,” said Ramsamy.
“While we have forgiven as a family, we have not healed. We grieve every day. Our family will never be the same again. But we have God. If her killers are caught, I will not go to court. I would not be able to look at them. I just need to know that justice was served,” she added.
As art of her journey to healing, Ramsamy shared her testimony at the Embassy Church, in Mayville, where she described the grief, pain and trauma she endured after losing her only daughter.
“On the day of the hijacking, we were surrounded by the enemy. A weapon was formed against us. But the question is, did that weapon prosper? My baby was no more and she had ascended into the kingdom of God. Her body just lay there. After the hijacking when her father Barnes put her into his vehicle and drove to the hospital, I fell to the ground where her blood soaked into my skin clothes.
“The enemy stood over me, convinced that this was the moment that I would break. That I would curse God and my faith would shatter under the weight of my grief. The enemy thought the blood I was covered in was a sign of defeat. But what he failed to realise or to see was the blood that covered me long before that moment was the blood of Jesus,” she told the church.
Ramsamy said she shared her testimony in the hope that she could help other parents, struggling from the deaths of their children, to heal and find comfort.
“Since Zarah’s death, I felt like I should not question the will of God. But I had two questions weighing heavily on my heart. Why did God take my perfect child who loved him so much? And, I also wanted to know if Zarah had felt any pain when the vehicle drove over her. I felt no peace,” added Ramsamy.
“God gave me three signs. The first was when I felt uneasy and anxious after hearing a loud noise. I asked God for how long I was going to feel so anxious and afraid and when would I find peace? At that moment, I looked out the window and saw Zarah’s name written in the clouds. It was clear for a few seconds until the wind blew the clouds away. Fortunately I woke Barnes up in time to see it.
“The second time I found myself asking God, ‘why my child when she loved you so much and lived by your word’? I was then directed to a bible in my dining room and when I opened it the first scripture that came up read: “The godly often die before their time. No one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come,” she testified.
“The third sign from God was when I broke down last week while preparing for my testimony at church. I fell to my knees and cried. I felt an anointing and when I closed my eyes, I could see Zarah. I saw her kneel and go under the car. She was afraid and shaking. I saw her under the car and three sets of wings covered her entire body as the tyres went over her.
“When I spoke to a close friend and pastor about this vision, she said in the Bible, it said that God would cover you with his feathers and under his wings, where you would find will find refuge. I found some peace in that moment,’ Ramsamy said.
Barnes Ramsamy said he was disappointed with the lack of feedback from police about the case.
“We have had feedback from the Malvern police about three times since the incident. But each time, it was I who made contact with them. We only heard about the arrest of the police officer through the media. “However, his arrested was not directly related to Zarah’s murder. It seems like my little girl is just another crime statistic,” he said.
“Emotionally, this had taken a toll on us but God has seen us through. My wife has been our strength and had held our family together. We also have a great support system from our pastors, friends and ministers. Now we pray for her killers to be arrested,” he said.
Today date, only Constable Minenhle Makhaye from the Cato Manor Police Station has been arrested after he was found in possession of Shay Ramsamy’s bank card.
During his court appearance, Makhaye said he had been tasked to drive the hijacked vehicle to the Malvern police station from his policing area in Cato Manor. He said he had found the bank card on the seat of the vehicle and failed to hand it to police as evidence.
He was arrested by the Hawks after he swiped the bank card at a liquor store, where he had purchased R1 000 worth of alcohol.
He was remanded into police custody pending further investigations that allegedly linked him to the July 2021 unrest. Police have not made any arrests linked directly to Zarah’s murder.