Durban-The daughter of an elderly woman who was killed by three men at her Spioenkop eSenembe farm, in oThongathi, on April 18, told the Durban Regional Court yesterday what her caring and charity-driven mother had meant to the community.
The three men accused of Virathapusharana Govender’s murder pleaded guilty and were sentenced to an effective 40 years in prison.
Seventy-year-old Govender was found dead in her home by neighbours. Her husband, Steve Govender, 71, was found unconscious, lying in a pool of blood. He had survived by playing dead when their attackers checked for his pulse.
Yesterday Nkosinathi Ngcobo, Simangaliso Michael Mayela and Odwa Zide pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Magistrate Anand Maharaj sentenced each of them to 25 years’ imprisonment for murder, 10 years each for two counts of robbery - which would run concurrently - five years for attempted murder and three years for the possession of illegal firearms.
Yuvashnee Govender said her parents had employed 30 people on the farm and provided many street hawkers, who sold fruit and vegetables in Verulam, with work.
Yuvashnee, a medical doctor who lives in Pietermaritzburg, said her parents had worked hard to build up the farm over their 44 years of marriage. They had earned sufficient money to pay for their children’s education and to uplift the oThongathi community.
She said a large number of families in the community around the farm had relied on them to put food on the table.
After her mother’s murder, she wanted to sell the farm, but the community had pleaded with her not to and promised to look after her father.
“My parents loved the farm and had dedicated their lives to farming. They sold vegetables to the community at discounted prices, especially to HIV/Aids- stricken households,” Yuvashnee said.
In court, the trio said through their attorney, Zanele Cele, that they had planned the robbery and since one of them worked at the farmhouse as a gardener, he knew his way around the house.
They said they gained entry by jumping over the electric fence when they saw the Govenders’ vehicle approaching.
They accosted the couple and looted their home, stealing bangles and earrings worth about R10 000, cellphones, firearms and R10 000 cash.
While in the house, Ngcobo had gone to the kitchen to get something to eat.
“After committing such a heinous crime, they still ate the food my mother had prepared before going to the market.
“I know two of them - one of them washed my car in 2016 and even then I was suspicious of him and did not trust him. Another I recognise as one of my parents’ employees.
“They chopped off the hand that fed them and they deserve to spend a long time in jail,” she said.
While not much was said by the defence in mitigation of sentence - except to ask the court to consider their age; the fact that they had pleaded guilty; and that they were first offenders - prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay said the trio were not remorseful for their actions, but only regretted that they had been caught.
Handing down the sentence, Maharaj began by applauding the Provincial Crime Unit, which worked tirelessly on the case, arresting the suspects in a matter of weeks.
He said the suspects, by pleading guilty, had put themselves at the mercy of the court, but said he could not understand why they would kill an old, harmless woman and attack a couple that was good to the community.
Outside court, the Govender family said they welcomed the sentence and hoped it would be a deterrent to others.