The mother of murdered Paarl resident Nicola Pienaar, whose body was found in a friend’s backyard, is struggling to process the death of her daughter, a colleague said.

“She already went home a few hours ago, we are trying to give her space. This is a very emotional time for her,” Marlaine Pienaar-Vice’s receptionist Lyury Bailey told News24.

“She told us that she is not taking any phone calls at the moment.”

Pienaar-Vice told Herald Live on Monday morning that she was feeling paralysed and had taken tranquilisers to deal with the emotional pain.

Pienaar-Vice previously said to News24 that she believed her daughter would be found.

“Miracles never cease to happen,” she said at the time.

News24 reported that Jacobus Johannes Oosthuizen, 32, was arrested in Port Elizabeth on January 23 after he was found driving Nicola’s car.

On Sunday, Oosthuizen led officers to his home in Paarl, Western Cape, where Nicola’s body was found buried under rubble.

Oosthuizen is expected to appear in the Paarl Magistrate’s court on Thursday.