Cape Town - The pre-trial proceedings in the case of the widow of a Stellenbosch wine farmer and the two men implicated alongside her in the 2019 killing of her husband has been postponed to November 12 for yet another pre-trial conference.
Zurenah Smit, a former police officer turned private investigator, Derek Sait, and his brother-in-law Steven Damon were arrested for the killing of Stefan Smit, the owner of the Louisenhof wine farm in December last year, 18 months after Smit was shot at his farm.
Zurenah also faces charges of forging Smit’s mother’s will, intimidation, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Earlier in the year the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court granted Zurenah and Sait R5 000 bail on gun-related and theft charges and R10 000 bail on the murder charge. Damon, who was employed as Stefan’s bodyguard, did not apply for bail.
According to their bail conditions, they will be under house arrest and may only leave their homes for medical, business and legal appointments.
Smit was shot and killed in front of his wife and a family friend visiting from Switzerland on his farm when masked intruders entered their home through an unlocked door on Sunday, June 2, 2019.
A couple of months before he was killed, Smit had earned himself something of a national profile after giving an interview to the New York Times in which he spoke about the threat of land grabs on his property.
Smit had previously complained about how citizens from the nearby informal settlement, Kayamandi, had begun erecting shacks at the back of his farm.