Cape Town - A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a farm murder which was committed in Sannieshof in the North West province in 2017.
North West provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane welcomed the sentence imposed on Zacharia Nyalimathe by the North West High Court on Tuesday.
In a statement, police said that Nyalimathe was found guilty on charges of housebreaking with the intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, attempted murder and another six charges under the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60 of 2000) on Friday.
Police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said: "That was after Nyalimathe and three other accused were arrested in connection with an incident in which they killed Barend Christiaan Greyling and wounded his wife, Marlett Ann Greyling during a housebreaking and robbery on Tuesday, 16 May 2017, at Leeuwkuil farm in Sannieshof.
According to Myburgh, during the incident, the accused took jewellery, cellular phones, a computer, a laptop, a 9mm pistol, .303 revolver, 40 rounds of ammunition and fled the scene with the couple’s Toyota Hilux.
Nyalimathe was sentenced to life on the charge of murder, and a further 68 years on the other nine charges.
Earlier in the year, his co-accused, Tebogo Lawrence Mogolotsane, 28, Joseph Zakeya, 32, and Neo Frans Khubone, 27, were each sentenced to 76 years and pleading guilty to the charges.
Motswenyane praised the officers involved in the case, saying “it takes disciplined and focused police officers to bring about successes of these kind and to make sure that society’s expectations of the police service are met".