PRETORIA, South Africa — The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division in Pretoria, has sentenced three farmers to life imprisonment each for the premeditated murder of a farm dweller, in a case the court found to be racially motivated.
The court convicted Jaco Wessels Kemp, Louise Coetzee, and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen for the killing of Dumisani Phakathi in September 2023.
The judge also declared the trio unfit to possess firearms and ordered them to surrender all guns, ammunition, licences, and permits to investigators.
According to court proceedings, the three accused were at a chicken farm in Mamokgalieskraal on September 16, 2023, when they saw Phakathi walking past the gate on his way to collect water from a nearby furrow commonly used by community members.
The court heard that the accused confronted him, assaulted him, and dragged him into a storage facility within the farm, where the attack continued.
Phakathi later succumbed to injuries sustained during the assault.
In the early hours of September 17, 2023, police stopped Kemp and Coetzee during a stop-and-search operation along the R511 road towards Brits.
Officers discovered black refuse bags loaded in the back of their bakkie. During the search, police noticed human legs protruding from beneath the bags.
A further inspection revealed the bloodied body of the deceased, with his head covered in plastic. The two were arrested at the scene.
Van der Westhuizen later handed himself over to police on September 19, 2023, after investigations linked him to the killing.
During the trial, the three accused pleaded not guilty and attempted to shift blame among themselves.
However, State Prosecutor Advocate Lawrence More presented witness testimony and evidence that the court found sufficient to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
In mitigation, the defence urged the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, citing time already spent in custody and their parental responsibilities.
The prosecution opposed the request, arguing the killing was unprovoked and carried out cruelly.
The State also told the court that the accused placed the body in rubbish bags in an attempt to dispose of it at a dumping site.
Victim impact statements were also read into the record. The deceased’s sister said the incident had deeply affected the family and eroded her trust in others following the killing.
In sentencing, the judge agreed with the prosecution that the accused showed no remorse.
The court found the killing was committed without an apparent reason and concluded the circumstances pointed to racial motivation.
The judge imposed life imprisonment on each of the three convicts.
