Cape Town: THE girlfriend of late Stellenbosch soccer prodigy Oshwin Andries is pregnant with the 19-year-old's child and told him the news shortly before his death, she told Weekend Argus.

Ruche Amber van Rooyen, or Sya as she's affectionately known, said she was three months pregnant and devastated that Andries would not know his child.

Andries, who died six days after he was stabbed in a frenzied knife-attack in a Klapmuts tavern, is allegedly the father of the child.

Andries, who played midfielder for Stellenbosch FC, was laid to rest on February 19 and was, according to Van Rooyen, ecstatic about the prospect of becoming a father, a parental figure he was denied as his mother, Natasha, was a single parent.

"He was smiling when he found out," said Van Rooyen. "He was very excited about becoming a dad and he was preparing himself. He was just getting ready to be with a new little person before he passed away," she said, breaking into sobs.

“It was mid-January, Oshwin did play away that weekend ... I didn't feel good for a couple of days so I did take a test the Saturday after the game, I was shocked at the results so I sent it to Oshwin,” she said.

“He was also in shock -- but smiling. He did ask that I must keep the baby because it is his legacy and he always made jokes about him being a daddy.

"It was so special, his eyes lit up ... I think it's because his mother was a single parent," she said.

Andries' brother, Lee-Irwin, previously told Weekend Argus that his late sibling "lived for our mother".

"He always said he is doing everything he does just for us," said Lee-Irwin. “Nothing will ever be the same, I will miss his silliness and his big heart,” Lee-Irwin said, crying inconsolably. “Oshwin was a light. He lit up everybody, I will see him again one day.”

Oshwin was stabbed during a fight at a Klapmuts tavern on January 29. He died six days later en-route to Paarl Hospital.

According to eyewitnesses and the victim’s niece, Nadene Hartman, Andries and four others were enjoying drinks at a tavern at a Klapmuts informal settlement hours before the incident occurred.

Among the four was his girlfriend, Van Rooyen, his niece Nadene Hartman and a friend, Austin Moses.

Eyewitnesses who spoke to the Weekend Argus said a scuffle broke out between Andries and the perpetrator at the Buntu tavern.

"They were first fighting with their fists," said Hartman. The perpetrator left the scene and returned moments later with a knife. He then stabbed Oshwin,” she said. “People were then shouting, screaming and the ambulance was called.”

Natasha told Weekend Argus that she was preparing to sleep when she heard someone shouting outside telling her that her son had been stabbed.

The 47-year-old said by the time she got to the scene, her son had already been loaded into an ambulance and was rushed to hospital but was later discharged.

Six days later, his mother rushed him to Paarl hospital. But he never made it.

Andries' self-confessed stabber, who can't be named due to legal reasons, is, according to his family, still fearing for his life.

"It's been a tough, touching and emotional two months for us as a family ... my brother tried handing him over but his arrest was denied," said a family member.

"My mother doesn't know how or where to turn to or whom to reach out to. She really wants to meet with the deceased’s mother, by all means, but we as a family fear for her health and well-being and how the deceased's family will react," she said.

"To many it might look that my mother doesn't show or have any emotions or remorse she does. It's just that she has never been given the platform to go or speak personally from a mother's point of view and heart-to-heart with the deceased’s mother. Yet the incident is still raw and a family has lost a son and a legend and we as a family really feel the whole (aspect) of a mother losing a son," she added.

"My mother even wanted to go to the funeral but we had to stop her because we did not want any animosity because emotions were high at the time and we were scared that the deceased’s family would reject her. We, as a family, also want clarity and answers. We are not playing victims but we think both families need to know the truth."

Provincial police said there's no new developments in the case and that an arrest was yet to be made.

Weekend Argus