GQEBERHA – Anke Mari Cilliers (39) pleaded guilty in the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday, 2 June, to her role in the murder of Gqeberha businessman Danie de Jager (65), who was killed at his Newton Park home on 13 October 2025 while she and her boyfriend, Lee-Roy Scholtz, were under the influence of crystal methamphetamine

The drug-fueled murder was triggered by a heated dispute over scrap metal, during which De Jager allegedly accused Scholtz of theft and threatened them with eviction.

De Jager was Cilliers’ landlord, and she lived in a flat attached to his property with her boyfriend, Lee-Roy Scholtz.

Scholtz also pleaded guilty to De Jager’s murder during proceedings in the High Court on 1 June.

As part of her plea agreement, Cilliers accepted an effective sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

She pleaded guilty to Count 1 (murder), Count 2 (robbery with aggravating circumstances), Count 3 (defeating or obstructing the course of justice), and Count 4 (contravention of the Older Persons Act).

She was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on Count 1, 15 years’ imprisonment on Count 2, five years’ imprisonment on Count 3, and five years’ imprisonment on Count 4.

Presiding Judge Nyameko Gqamana accepted and confirmed the plea and sentencing agreement, ordering that the sentences on Counts 2, 3 and 4 run concurrently with the 20-year sentence on Count 1, resulting in an effective sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

In a plea agreement read out to court by her legal representative, Advocate Jodine Coertzen, Cilliers claimed that De Jager was allegedly verbally aggressive towards her, Scholtz and his girlfriend, Estell Le Grange.

According to the plea agreement, Cilliers stated that Le Grange repeatedly urged her and Scholtz to kill De Jager because of his alleged abusive behaviour towards her.

She said she initially refused the request several times.

Cilliers further claimed that Le Grange promised that she and Scholtz would be “taken care of” and would be allowed to stay in the main house after De Jager’s death.

The plea agreement also states that De Jager was verbally aggressive towards both Cilliers and Scholtz and frequently threatened them with eviction while they faced financial difficulties.

“He would be friendly and the next day he would shout and swear at us for no reason whatsoever. He made life very unpleasant and untenable for both Le Grange and for us as his tenants.

“We never knew what mood to expect from him,” the plea agreement states.

The court heard that tensions escalated after a dispute involving scrap metal that had been lying in the yard.

According to Cilliers, Scholtz had obtained permission from De Jager to sell the scrap metal.

However, the following day De Jager allegedly accused Scholtz of stealing it and again threatened to evict them.

“We had a very heated argument and Lee-Roy became very upset as De Jager accused him of stealing,” Cilliers stated.

She said it was after this argument that Le Grange once again approached them about killing De Jager, allegedly pointing out that he had falsely implicated Scholtz.

At the time, both Cilliers and Scholtz were under the influence of crystal methamphetamine.

According to the plea agreement, Le Grange instructed them to choke and stab De Jager and stage the murder to resemble a house robbery.

“She informed us that she would give us the keys through the window to gain access to the house, which she did, and she indicated that we should wait until they were asleep before carrying out the plan,” Cilliers stated.

Cilliers further claimed that after the attack, she tied Le Grange’s hands with cable ties and secured one of her legs to a chair at her request.

She also placed a pillowcase loosely over her mouth to make it appear that she had been restrained.

According to the plea agreement, Le Grange asked Cilliers to assault her to make the scene more convincing, but she refused.

Recounting the events of the murder, Cilliers admitted that she struck De Jager with a hammer during the attack.

Following the murder, Cilliers and Scholtz left the property in De Jager’s Nissan Juke.

“We went to the Spar in Humewood to draw money from both the cards. We drew R4 450 in total. After that we drove to Central, where we ditched the vehicle near the Oval stadium. We ordered an Uber and booked ourselves into the Road Lodge in Summerstrand,” she stated.

The pair later bought food, checked out of the hotel and spent time in the city before visiting Walmer Shopping Centre.

“Later in the afternoon we phoned Le Grange and she informed us that the police were at the house. We decided to go back. When we got there, Le Grange was not there, but about 10 minutes later the police arrived and we were arrested,” Cilliers said.

The court also heard that Cilliers admitted to using crystal methamphetamine as a coping mechanism, and revealed that her addiction began after her mother’s death in 2017 and after her father left to live in Mthatha.

The court also heard that Le Grange’s matter would be separated and heard next week Wednesday, 10 June.