DURBAN - A former Northwood School learner and his partner, who are alleged to have Islamic State (Isis) links, are to appear in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court again this week, charged with murdering 74-year-old British botanist Rod Saunders and his wife, Rachel, 64.
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Grim details about the couple’s disappearance have already been heard by Verulam magistrate Valaramen Kathravaloo during the bail application of Sayfydeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 38, and his wife, Fatima Patel, 27.
Sayfydeen Del Vecchio is led into the Verulam Magistrate's Court. File picture: ANA
It is alleged that the couple, along with Ahmad “Bazooka” Mussa, abducted and murdered the Saunders, who were last seen alive in early February.
Del Vecchio and Patel also face charges under the Terrorism and Related Activities Act for allegedly flying an Isis flag at their Mtunzini homestead.
However, their attorney Yousha Tayob said the Isis allegation had been “exaggerated”.
Lawyers for Fatima Patel and Sayfyden Aslam Del Vecchio during a break in court proceedings at the Verulam Magistrate's Court. Picture: BONGANI MBATHA/(ANA) AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY
“It was a piece of cloth with Islamic inscriptions on it but was perceived to be an Isis flag,” said Tayob.
The fourth accused in the matter, Thembamandla Kwanele Xulu, 19, has also been implicated but faces a lesser charge related to the possession of property belonging to the botanists.
Xulu’s trial has been separated from that of his co-accused.
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The Saunders couple were highly regarded in local botany circles. Their speciality was the trading of rare plant seeds through their Cape Town-based business, Silverhill Seeds.
Their quest for the seeds took the couple to various parts of Africa.
They were allegedly kidnapped on February 10 in the vicinity of the Ngoye Dam during a trip to northern KZN.
A day before they vanished, the couple had finished filming in the Drakensberg with award-winning BBC Gardeners' World host Nick Bailey.
Patel and her husband were arrested on February 15 when police swooped on their homestead in the Ngoye forest, but for weeks police came no closer to finding the missing couple.
The search involved tracker dogs and helicopters, and assistance from the FBI and British police.
Then in March police received information that an unidentified body that a fisherman had stumbled upon in the uThukela River could be linked to the couple’s disappearance.
Cape Town botanists Rodney and Rachel Saunders. Picture: Supplied
After police completed DNA tests, they were able to establish that the corpse was the remains of Rod Saunders.
After an extensive manhunt, police then nabbed the Malawian national Mussa, in Durban. He allegedly told investigators that the couple's bodies had been dumped in the Tugela River mouth but Rachel’s body is yet to be found.
It emerged in court that Del Vecchio and Patel had been under the Hawks' surveillance for two years. The surveillance began after Del Vecchio was seen snooping around King Shaka International Airport on a quad bike. The Hawks revealed that he used to sit on his bike, watching planes land and take off.
His wife, Patel, was arrested in July 2016 with her brother, Ebrahim, during an anti-terrorism raid conducted by the Hawks in Azaadville, Joburg. Also arrested at the time were her twin brothers, Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, who were accused of planning IS attacks in South Africa. Patel’s case was still pending. She was released on bail at the time while the Thulsie twins remained in police custody.
Patel comes from a conservative Muslim family in Azaadville. Her father is a well-known moulana (Muslim priest). She was home-schooled and apparently met Vel Deccio on social media.
Tayob, who represented Patel during her 2016 arrest, said Del Vecchio and Patel married in the same year.
“We were initially aware they had been living in uMhlanga but only when they were arrested did it emerge they had moved to Mtunzini,” said Tayob.
Vel Decchio is an Italian-born national who moved to South Africa as a child. He completed his schooling at Northwood School in Durban North. It is believed that he converted to Islam in 2003.