A Mpumalanga security manager who shot young jobseekers in search of temporary jobs during peak litchi harvest season has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a further 38 years.
Sarel Petrus du Plessis, who pulled the trigger on that day on December 5 2018 after concluding that the four were litchi thieves, was sentenced at the Mpumalanga High Court on Wednesday for murdering Bhekimuzi Anele Ziko,18.
At the time, Ziko was with his elder brother and their two friends going from farm to farm looking for a job. The other three escaped unscathed during the shooting
Mpumalanga NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Du Plessis had concluded that the four young men were trespassing and intending to steal litchis from the farm.
He then drove towards their direction, stopped the vehicle and took out his firearm. He started shooting at the victims, and one died while three ran away, said Nyuswa.
During the trial, Du Plessis denied the charges levelled against him. However, it was the testimony of the survivors, led by Adv Eugene Mathebula, that sank Du Plessis.
During aggravation of sentence, the state said 52-year-old Du Plessis had abused his power as a security manager in the district by killing a defenceless young jobseeker.
Judge Nelisa Phiwokazi Mali also found Du Plessis guilty of using an unlicensed firearm and ammunition to carry out the attack, which took place near Uniform Farm, Tendabosch, in the district of Komatipoort.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by social worker Nomfundo Mokoena, Ziko’s mother detailed how Du Plessis’s actions had left her with trauma and unbearable pain.
She said she now relies on medication due to emotional and psychosocial trauma caused by the incident.
Before handing down the sentence, Mali highlighted the sentence must serve as a deterrent to society.
She then sentenced Du Plessis to life imprisonment for murder, 10 years imprisonment on each count of attempted murder, five years for possession of an unlicensed firearm and three years for possession of unlawful ammunition.
Mali ordered that the life sentence run concurrently with the other sentences.
Du Plessis was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“The National Prosecuting Authority is satisfied with the sentence and hopes that the deceased's family will find solace and closure by removing the accused from society,” Nyuswa said.
Security manager gets life for killing jobseeker
Du Plessis used unlicensed firearm, ammunition
Image: NPA
A Mpumalanga security manager who shot young jobseekers in search of temporary jobs during peak litchi harvest season has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a further 38 years.
Sarel Petrus du Plessis, who pulled the trigger on that day on December 5 2018 after concluding that the four were litchi thieves, was sentenced at the Mpumalanga High Court on Wednesday for murdering Bhekimuzi Anele Ziko,18.
At the time, Ziko was with his elder brother and their two friends going from farm to farm looking for a job. The other three escaped unscathed during the shooting
Mpumalanga NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Du Plessis had concluded that the four young men were trespassing and intending to steal litchis from the farm.
He then drove towards their direction, stopped the vehicle and took out his firearm. He started shooting at the victims, and one died while three ran away, said Nyuswa.
During the trial, Du Plessis denied the charges levelled against him. However, it was the testimony of the survivors, led by Adv Eugene Mathebula, that sank Du Plessis.
During aggravation of sentence, the state said 52-year-old Du Plessis had abused his power as a security manager in the district by killing a defenceless young jobseeker.
Judge Nelisa Phiwokazi Mali also found Du Plessis guilty of using an unlicensed firearm and ammunition to carry out the attack, which took place near Uniform Farm, Tendabosch, in the district of Komatipoort.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by social worker Nomfundo Mokoena, Ziko’s mother detailed how Du Plessis’s actions had left her with trauma and unbearable pain.
She said she now relies on medication due to emotional and psychosocial trauma caused by the incident.
Before handing down the sentence, Mali highlighted the sentence must serve as a deterrent to society.
She then sentenced Du Plessis to life imprisonment for murder, 10 years imprisonment on each count of attempted murder, five years for possession of an unlicensed firearm and three years for possession of unlawful ammunition.
Mali ordered that the life sentence run concurrently with the other sentences.
Du Plessis was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“The National Prosecuting Authority is satisfied with the sentence and hopes that the deceased's family will find solace and closure by removing the accused from society,” Nyuswa said.
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