Ten people accused of murder after a 2009 farm attack in the Free State were acquitted by the Ficksburg Regional Court on Wednesday.
“The criminal justice system failed the complainants in the case,” regional magistrate Ollie Koekemoer said in his judgment, in which he criticised poor police work.
The 10 people, eight men and two women, were acquitted of two charges of attempted murder and three of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
At the time, police said a group of robbers had overpowered a domestic worker and taken her cellphone at gunpoint.
They then went into the farmhouse where they found a disabled woman, Nellie Jansen van Rensburg, 53, and her 77-year-old mother.
The women were tied up with telephone cables.
Police said the elderly woman was assaulted with a gun and sustained chest and facial injuries.
Jansen van Rensburg was pistol-whipped in the face. She died soon after the attack.
The robbers stole firearms and cellphones before fleeing.
Delivering judgment, Koekemoer described the police investigation into the matter as superficial, inaccurate and “traak-my-nie-agtig” (could not care less).
Koekemoer said it would have been an easy case if the evidence had been handled properly. He said the firearms seized from the accused were never sent for fingerprint testing.
One of the firearms, which apparently belonged to the Van Rensburg family, was not shown to them either to identify it or claim it from the police.
“It is unclear for this court which road these firearms walked,” said Koekemoer.
He said in view of the large number of police at the scene of the crime, including several senior police officials, the investigation left much to be desired. - Sapa