PRETORIA – Three farmers convicted of murdering a farm dweller, Dumisani Phakathi, will know their fate during sentence proceedings in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria today – Monday, 16 March. The trio, Jaco Wessels Kemp (36), Louise Coetzee (29), and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen were found guilty on a charge of murder.
They were convicted recently on 17 February of the premeditated murder of an adult male farm dweller in September 2023. Their conviction was based on compelling evidence that investigative police gathered. Despite this, the three accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and shifted blame onto one another during trial proceedings. The court heard that the victim died following a brutal attack by the three accused on the day they were having a braai on the chicken farm.
Lumka Mahanjana, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecution Authority of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, said the evidence presented during the trial was overwhelming. Incriminating evidence included the police discovery of the bloodied body of Phakathi in the bakkie which Kemp and Coetzee were travelling in during the early hours of 17 September. Kemp and Coetzee were stopped by police during a stop-and-search operation on the R511 towards Brits while driving a bakkie.
“The State Prosecutor, Advocate Lawrence More, presented compelling evidence through state witnesses, proving the State’s case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Mahanjana.
The court heard shocking details of Phakathi’s murder. The court heard that on 16 September 2023, the trio were having a braai at the chicken farm in Mamokgalieskraal. At approximately 16:00, they saw Phakathi walking past the farm gate on his way to collect water from a nearby furrow, which community members commonly used as a water source. The three approached and brutally assaulted him. They then dragged him into a storage facility inside the chicken farm, where the assault continued until he succumbed to his injuries.
In the early hours of 17 September at approximately 02:00, Kemp and Coetzee were stopped by police during a stop-and-search operation on the R511 towards Brits while driving a bakkie. The vehicle was loaded with black refuse bags. During the search, police noticed human legs protruding from underneath the bags. Upon further inspection, they discovered the bloodied body of the deceased, with his head covered in plastic. Kemp and Coetzee were immediately arrested at the scene.
Following the gruesome find and subsequent arrest of the two accomplices, Van der Westhuizen handed himself over to the police on 19 September. Mahanjana said investigations linked him to Phakathi’s murder.
