Kimberley - A Northern Cape businessman and miner was on Tuesday acquitted of the murder of one his farmworkers, who died only hours after he beat him with a sjambok.
Carlo Andrea du Plessis was initially charged with three counts of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and one count of murder, after he assaulted four workers with a sjambok on the farm Makoenskloof, near Douglas, in August 2014.
One of the workers, Alfred Phakedi, later died as a result of head injuries.
Read: Did sjambok man foresee risk of death?
He fled after the lashing from Du Plessis and while being chased by the accused in rocky terrain he apparently fell twice.
Two doctors, who performed post mortems on Phakedi, confirmed that his head injuries could not have been caused by a sjambok, and concurred that it was more consistent with falling and hitting his head.
In the Northern Cape High Court on Tuesday, Du Plessis, represented by Advocate Barry Roux SC, was acquitted of the murder, as well as culpable homicide charges, and was instead found guilty of assaulting Phakedi with the intent of doing grievous bodily harm (GBH).
He was further found guilty on one charge of attempted assault and two of common assault, in respect of the original three assault GBH charges.
Northern Cape High Court Judge Frans Kgomo, after going over the details of the case, said on Tuesday that to convict Du Plessis of murder, would be to “cast the net too wide”.
“It cannot be said that the accused should have anticipated that the deceased would fall, and perhaps fall a second time,” Kgomo said.
He added that he was satisfied that Du Plessis did not unlawfully and negligently cause the death of Phakedi.
“He is accordingly acquitted on the competent of murder, namely culpable homicide,” Kgomo told a relieved Du Plessis.
Kgomo, however, added that another hurdle had to be overcome and this was whether Du Plessis was merely guilty of common assault, as pleaded, or of assault GBH.
During his plea explanation, Du Plessis “left it in the hands of the court to find whether three to four lashes with a sjambok would constitute assault GBH” adding that he did not intend to cause serious harm.
Kgomo found that the assault on the deceased was different from that meted out to the other three complainants, who sustained no or “moderate” injuries during the beatings.
“In the case of the deceased, he was grabbed and thrashed several times. He broke loose and was relentlessly pursued (by Du Plessis). When the accused caught up with him, after he had already fallen twice, the accused once again lashed him with the sjambok.
“While the sjambok itself is not, in my view, a dangerous weapon and on the light side, I am satisfied that the accused is guilty of assault GBH and is being acquitted on the charge of murder,” Kgomo said as he handed down his verdict of guilty on one charge of attempted assault, two of common assault and one of assault GBH.
Read: Roux defends man accused of killing farm worker
He is expected to deliver sentencing on Wednesday, after the State handed in a victim impact report and the defence handed in its heads of arguments for sentencing purposes.
It also transpired that Du Plessis had previously been convicted on a charge of crimen injuria, two of driving under the influence of alcohol, one of assault and one of contravening the Tax Act.
Diamond Fields Advertiser