A judges mallet on a wooden desk in front of a scale. File Picture
Durban - The Pietermaritzburg High Court convicted and sentenced two men to life imprisonment for murder, housebreaking, robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm as well as kidnapping.
Provincial police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Sapholakhe Thusi, 42, and Micheck Khumalo, 47 were sentenced on Thursday.
Describing the April 2021 incident, Ngcobo said armed men entered a farm in Howick where they fatally stabbed the farm owner.
“The house was ransacked and the suspects stole appliances, groceries, a firearm and cellphones before they fled in the deceased’s vehicle,” said Ngcobo.
She said the suspects then kidnapped an employee.
A case of murder and robbery was reported and Howick SAPS investigated the farm attack.
“A thorough investigation was conducted and it led to the arrest of two suspects, Lulu Sapholakhe Thusi, 42, and Micheck Khumalo, 47, who made several appearances at court before they were sentenced to life imprisonment,” she said.
Earlier this month, The Mercury reported that a sum of R1.1 million was donated to the Agri Securitas Trust Fund by Corteva Agriscience, Sanlam and NWK limited at the Agri SA 2022 congress to help ensure rural safety.
Cobus Van Zyl, chairperson of the fund, said at the time that the generous donation was a vital contribution to the trust’s work of supporting farming communities in their endeavours to protect themselves against farm attacks and general criminality.
According to Van Zyl, the funding would be used to expand the installation of camera systems.
He said this expensive technology had proven to be successful in monitoring vast areas for criminality and detecting veld fires before they can spread.
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