Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, Maverick Life, DM168

The Sizzlers massacre — author balances gore and victim focus in gripping true crime tale

The Sizzlers massacre — author balances gore and victim focus in gripping true crime tale
Suné Payne
By Suné Payne
22 Sep 2024
Facebook
1
A book by the host of a South African podcast that covers real cases centres on a 2003 mass murder in Sea Point and the criminal seeking parole.

Nicole Engelbrecht’s book on the Sizzlers massage parlour massacre in January 2003 in Sea Point, Cape Town, is a reminder of both the brutality of the crime and the strength of the families fighting the parole of one of the killers.

Nine men, including workers and clients, were shot and killed at Sizzlers, in what the killers claimed was a robbery gone wrong. Only one man, Quinton Taylor, survived, and Engelbrecht’s description of him shows how courageous he was to stand at death’s door and make it out alive.

Although claims have been bandied about regarding the cause of the shooting, including links to gangs or a possible hate crime, it is still unclear why and what exactly happened at the massage parlour.

Engelbrecht’s book portrays events from the perspective of first responders, journalists who covered the case at the time and affected families. It also includes court reports. The insights from the first responders are particularly moving in that they show not only dogged determination at the scene, but also an instinctive kindness.

A waiter, Adam Woest, and a taxi driver, Trevor Theys, were convicted of the murders. Theys has since died, and Woest has been applying for parole since 2021.

Why this story?


In an interview with Daily Maverick, Engelbrecht said that after her first book, Samurai Sword Murder: The Morné Harmse Story (published in 2022), she knew her next book would be about the parole system.

She thought about looking at parolees who stood accused of killing children. But there was difficulty with laws and legislation pertaining to this issue, which included legislation regarding child victims and child perpetrators.

Sizzlers, she said, came out of a “confluence of circumstances”. She had spoken to a first responder on the case, then to an investigating officer and then to Lee Visser, a sister of one of the victims. 

Visser’s prominent voice in the book shows the lack of closure families feel after such brutal crimes. Engelbrecht said they met when Visser asked her to share a petition against the parole of Woest.

“I said to her, how would she feel about us raising this in the public domain in a book form? And that’s really where the idea came from to focus specifically on Sizzlers,” said Engelbrecht.

The case had a few elements that stood out to the author: the victims were all men, there was a sex work aspect, and it was possibly a hate crime.

“So I think it was really, really very relevant in a lot of ways,” she said.

A balancing act


Engelbrecht’s book opens with a gruesome scene, describing how the men died and what first responders did when they arrived.

This is followed by first-hand accounts of how the evenings were spent in the Sea Point property. Then the story shifts to the quest against Woest’s release on parole.

Engelbrecht said the book was a balancing act “between not putting gory details on display for the sake of it, but also making people aware of how horrific this crime was”. She wanted readers to “relate to these victims as actual human beings, which we don’t often do as consumers of true crime or even just reading articles in the news”.

For Engelbrecht, the book was also a way to educate people about the parole system, as part of the rehabilitative process, but “also how the system is letting victims down [by] letting perpetrators out because they’re setting them up for failure upon release”.

She added: “When we remember victims of violent crime and we tell their story… we absorb their story in a way that can hopefully in some way be educational and helpful.”

The podcast and its community


Engelbrecht is the host of the popular True Crime South Africa podcast, which is constantly ranked high in the top local podcast lists on streaming sites.

True crime is a massive and growing genre. But the content creators often have no journalistic, medical or court experience, which can lead to the sensationalisation of crimes.

Engelbrecht steers away from this. In her podcast, which was in its 164th episode at the time of writing, she focuses on ethics and often relies on court documents and first-hand accounts of crimes.

Sizzlers

“You know, five years ago, I was a sales manager in a packaging company. I had absolutely nothing to do with true crime as a job, but I wanted to start a creative entrepreneurship,” she said.

South Africa didn’t really have anything like a true crime podcast when she started hers. She spread the word about her podcast by word of mouth – and it worked.

Read more: Daily Maverick’s crime archives

Engelbrecht hoped that people would relate to her as a person despite her not having a background in criminology, law or psychology. “And, you know… a lot of people have said to me they felt like they were on this journey with me,” she said.

“So every time I would learn something new, I would share it with listeners, and every time I changed my opinion on something because of something new I’d learnt, I would share that with them as well.”

The podcast remains focused on victims, not clicks or likes. “I’m not the type of content creator who will cover a case that’s happened today just to get people to click my social media,” she said.

“And I think what I’ve noticed over the years, especially on the social media platforms, is the people who resonate with those types of ethics have stuck around and they’ve invited other people they know who also resonate with those types of ethics.

“There’s a very thin line that you walk between creating ethical true crime content – which, let’s face it, is still in some ways using the worst moments of a person’s life to create content – and actually abusing those victims and their stories,” she said.

She tried to keep returning to the ethics she used when she started the podcast, even when it became necessary to make money from it.

Read more: The Apartheid Killer — bringing a dark chapter of SA’s history into the light

Read more: ‘Boetie Boer’ attempts to dive deeply into the terrifying mind of a monster

“I struggled a lot in the beginning when I realised that, at some point, I was going to have to monetise this content in some way in order to be able to continue doing it... because it felt really gross to be making money out of the worst things that have ever happened to people.”

Then, she slowly started to realise, and others pointed out, that the podcast and her books were making a real difference in the world. “They were bringing in leads on cold cases. They were educating the public. They were encouraging victims to open cases on 10-year-old sexual assaults,” she said.

“It was really making a real difference and victims’ families say to me that they are grateful for the work that I’m doing.” DM

Read in brief


We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo. Born into the Waorani tribe of the Amazon rainforest, Nenquimo was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling and shamanism. At the age of 14 she left the forest for the city. Her ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return. She listened. Published by Headline Publishing Group. R415

Amphibious Soul by Craig Foster. In this compelling memoir by the creator of My Octopus Teacher, the author recounts a life spent exploring the most incredible places on Earth, decades of daily ocean dives and wisdom from teachers and scientists. Published by Jonathan Ball Publishers. R380 from the DM Shop.

Narcoball: Love, Death and Football in Escobar’s Colombia by David Arrowsmith. A detailed eyewitness account of the chaotic period of Colombian football in which cartels dictated results and players and referees died for druglords’ sporting obsessions. R450 from the DM Shop. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

Categories:

Tags: