A Pietermaritzburg High Court judge gave the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) a tongue-lashing on Tuesday over why two Midlands farmers, implicated in the murders of two employees, were not prosecuted.
“Somebody is going to have to tell me why these farmers were not arrested. I am not going to let this matter lie,” the judge said, adding that the evidence against the farmers was “damning to say the least”.
Judge Igna Stretch made the comments after a judgment in which she convicted former farm security company boss, Rudolph Struwig, of the murders of the two employees.
The former head of Mapogo A Mathamaga security company was charged with the murders of two stud farm employees; Simphiwe Ndlovu at St Ives stud farm near Howick on June 10, 2004, and Mandla Masango at Rathmor stud farm on October 5, 2004.
Struwig, who owned the security company, hired guards who were his employees to carry out the killings on the instructions of the stud farm owners.
Described by Stretch as the “middleman and facilitator” in the commission of the murders, Struwig provided a vehicle and a firearm used in the attack on Ndlovu and supplied a bakkie to the assailants who killed Masango.
The farmers, the former owner of St Ives Farm, Adrian Wingfield, and Bernard McHardy, the owner of Rathmor Farm, were never arrested in connection with the murders.
Stretch said she intended making an order instructing the NPA to explain why the farmers were not arrested.
“I am expecting clarity on this issue. This is a case that is in the public interest. The families of the victims are entitled to know why these farmers have not been dealt with,” the judge said.
State prosecutor, advocate Sandra Senekal said that when Struwig was indicted, the State did not have adequate evidence against the farmers to arrest and charge them. however, Senekal said this was no longer the position.
“From the NPA’s side, steps will now be taken against the farmers,” she said.
Ironically, it may prove a difficult task for the State to bring charges against either Wingfield or McHardy.
The court heard last year that Wingfield sold the St Ives Farm and has since relocated overseas, while McHardy, who is 82 years old, was deemed unfit to testify at Struwig’s trial because he is suffering from dementia.
Struwig, meanwhile, who was out on bail, had his bail immediately revoked after his conviction on Tuesday.
Stretch found Struwig guilty on the strength of the State’s evidence against him, which included the testimony of the former employees he entrusted with the assassinations.
Last year, Themba Zandamela, an employee of Struwig’s, testified that his boss told him and three other workers that he needed them to kill someone who was “causing trouble in Howick”.
Lucky Mlangeni, a former Struwig employee, also testified against his former boss. He pleaded guilty to the murders and is serving a life term in prison.
Mlangeni confessed he was the “triggerman” in both killings. He gave detailed testimony of the meetings held between himself, Struwig and the farmers regarding how and when the victims should be killed.
Struwig testified that both Zandamela and Mlangeni had made threats against him after being fired from their jobs and were implicating him in the murders as a form of revenge.
However, Stretch said after listening to the evidence presented over the past two years of the trial, she was satisfied that this was not the case.
“Even if they had motive to implicate Struwig, there was no reasons put forward why these men would falsely implicate either Wingfield or McHardy. It is clear from the evidence that these two farmers wanted certain people exterminated and Struwig used his position to assist them. As the middleman he sourced his employees to commit these murders,” Stretch said.
The judge also found that the accomplice witnesses had all corroborated each other in material aspects regarding Struwig’s complicity in the crimes.
“The testimonies of all accomplice witnesses were of such a nature that it cannot be fabrication. I am satisfied that not only was the evidence corroborated, but that it is also the truth,” she said.
Stretch concluded that even though Struwig had not played a physical role in the commission of the murders, he was just as liable as the gunman and actively associated himself with the commission of the crime.
“There was a clear agreement between the farmers, Struwig and the hit men to commit the murders. They all acted in common purpose,” she said.
Arguing in mitigation of sentence, Struwig’s advocate, Pauline Andrews, submitted that Struwig, who is 54 years old and is a first offender, should receive a sentence not more than 15 years on each murder count.
She said that Struwig had “lost everything” as a result of his arrest. This included his businesses and his adult children from his first marriage wanted nothing to do with him. After Struwig lost his businesses, he moved to Kempton Park where he is employed as a site manager at a construction company earning R25 000 a month.
He is married to his second wife and adopted her three minor children who he claims he supports financially.
Arguing in aggravation of sentence, Senekal said that Struwig had yet to show any remorse for his actions and had used his power and position to have two men killed.
“These were premeditated murders and Struwig had ample opportunity to see the error of his ways and call off the executions. He should have used his position to resolve the disputes between the farmers and their employees instead of planning and facilitating their murders,” Senekal said.
Senekal submitted that the only appropriate sentence to be imposed was that of life in prison.
Stretch will pass sentence on Struwig tomorrow.
The families of the victims said that while they were happy with Struwig’s conviction, this did not change anything.
Betty Ziqubu, wife of Masango, and Octavia Ndlovu, wife of Ndlovu, said they were still struggling to cope with the loss of their husbands. They both called on the NPA and the police to arrest the farmers involved in the murders.
“They are the source of all this misery. If it wasn’t for them, we would not be suffering like this,” Ziqubu said.
Both Ziqubu and Ndlovu have minor children to support.
They both told the Daily News on Tuesday that they had left the St Ives and Rathmor Farms immediately after their husbands were killed.
“We still don’t know why our husbands were killed. We lost everything and now we want answers,” Ndlovu said.
Daily News