Cape Town - A Mitchells Plain man has admitted to the Western Cape High Court that he stabbed Claremont mother Anzunette du Plessis to death and slit her throat during a burglary late last year.
But the prosecution did not accept Moegamat Armien Salie’s guilty plea, saying that he had planned the October 4 murder.
It has charged him with premeditated murder which carries a minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
Salie, 31, pleaded guilty to murder and theft and not premeditated murder and aggravated robbery as the State alleged in the indictment.
Acting Judge Dianne Davis noted a plea of not guilty because the State did not accept Salie’s version.
Salie admitted that he went to Du Plessis’s house that morning to check the repair work he and his father had done to the roof of her house.
“She let me in and I asked her about the money she owed me for extra work I had done fixing door locks and the gate,” Salie said.
Du Plessis said she did not have the money, so Salie said he would take some of her possessions and return them once he had been paid.
“She went back into the office (in the house) and I started to collect the items in the lounge and kitchen.
“As this was the second or third time I’d requested my money, I intended to keep the goods until she paid me. I took a camera and BlackBerry cellphone in the lounge and iPod in the kitchen.
“While I was in the process of taking things the deceased returned and asked me what I was doing we… started arguing and she hit me from behind with her hands on my head and neck. I took out a knife that I carried in my pocket, turned and stabbed her in the chest. She was turning and trying to get away when I stabbed her in the back a number of times,” Salie said. He then grabbed her around her neck and dragged her into the office.
During the struggle, Du Plessis reached for the telephone but Salie grabbed her from behind and slit her throat.
Salie had then left with the items.
According to the indictment, Du Plessis was robbed of a camera, MacBook Pro laptop, and iPhone, iPod, flat-screen TV and four diamonds.
The entire incident occurred during the 45 minutes that Du Plessis’ child minder and domestic worker, Ritta Khumalo had taken her two-year-old daughter to the park.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
Cape Argus