Farmers given life sentences for murder of Dumisani Phakathi, judge finds racial motive
The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, has sentenced farmers Jaco Wessels Kemp (36), Louise Coetzee (29) and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen (38) to life imprisonment each for the premeditated, racially motivated murder of farm dweller Dumisani Phakathi, authorities stated.
The court also declared them unfit to possess firearms and ordered the surrender of all firearms, ammunition, licences, authorisations, and permits.
On 16 September 2023 the three were having a braai at a chicken farm in Mamokgalieskraal when they saw Phakathi walking past the farm gate to collect water from a nearby furrow.
The trio approached and assaulted him, dragged him into a storage facility on the farm and continued the assault until he died.
In the early hours of 17 September, police stopped a bakkie driven by Kemp and Coetzee on the R511 towards Brits and found Phakathi’s bloodied body concealed in black refuse bags, both were arrested.
Van der Westhuizen surrendered to police on 19 September after being linked to the offence.
All three accused pleaded not guilty and attempted to shift blame.
The State, led by Advocate Lawrence More, presented witness testimony and other evidence the court found proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
In mitigation the accused asked the court to deviate from minimum sentences because of time already served and family responsibilities; the State sought life sentences, describing the killing as cruel, senseless and accompanied by an attempt to dispose of the body.
The judge found the accused showed no remorse, concluded the killing was racially motivated and imposed life imprisonment on each.
Victim impact statements, read into the record and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Lebogang Lebese, include the deceased’s sister saying she no longer trusts white people because of the incident.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), through regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, welcomed the sentence and reiterated the NPA’s commitment to holding perpetrators of violent crimes accountable.
Source: South African media
