Durban - Four men have been found guilty of the murder and robbery of a Winterton farmer and the sadistic torture of his wife.
In a lengthy judgment, acting Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Anand Maharaj on Tuesday found that the State had established beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of Sifiso Mabuza, 32, Lindelani Mtshali, 25, Sabelo Ndlovu, 32, and Mduduzi Nene, 37.
The men were convicted of the murder of Mohamed Engar, 67, as well as two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, the attempted murder of a farm employee as well as the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Two of their co-accused, Mbongeleni Nkabinde, 25, and Bongani Mazibuko, 27, were acquitted after Maharaj found that the State had proved no evidence against them.
Engar, who ran a milling business at the farm Noodhulp, was savagely beaten and stabbed in the stomach during the attack on December 5, 2013. He died in Grey’s Hospital two days later.
Ndlovu was found in possession of a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that belonged to Engar.
Another firearm recovered from Mabuza was linked to a cartridge case found at the scene of the attack.
Mabuza and Mtshali’s fingerprints were also lifted from the scene by police experts.
Engar’s wife, Razia, testified, telling how the men had stormed their home and tortured and burnt her and her husband with an electric iron.
She said the attackers had forced her to lie on her stomach and she then felt the heat of the iron on her body and legs.
She said she was traumatised when her husband, who was bleeding and whose legs had also been burned, was brought from the mill to the home.
The assailants packed the victims’ goods and cash into bags, which they loaded into Engar’s vehicle before fleeing.
A farm employee, Lebaka Fortunate Tsotetsi, was shot in the leg and stomach.
In convicting the four, Maharaj said the evidence overwhelmingly linked them to the crime, and while there was no direct evidence of who had fatally stabbed Engar, it was clear they formed a common purpose to rob and kill him.
Argument in mitigation and aggravation of sentence will resume on Wednesday.
Daily News