The Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley has dismissed applications for leave to appeal by four men and a woman convicted of serious crimes including murder, robbery, and sexual assault, following a brutal attack on elderly victims.
The victims were the late Piet Els (86), renowned businessman, and his female friend, then 68, who survived the ordeal.
Judge L.G. Lever handed down the ruling on Friday, 29 August, rejecting all appeals by the convicted persons who were sentenced in March 2025 for crimes committed in January 2018.
Those convicted are Morapeli Rankali (28) and Motlalentwa Qhautse (37), from Lesotho; Lizbeth Ndlala (56) and her husband, Themba Lawrence Maja (68); Oupa Jeffrey Mahomane (44), all from Pienaar in Mpumalanga; Samson Sam Mbokane (63) from Mbombela in Mpumalanga; and Jabulani Zuma (62) from Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal.
The court heard the crimes involved “a vicious and brutal attack on two elderly and vulnerable victims.”
The most serious case involved Qhautse, who was convicted of housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, sexual assault, and murder. He received a life sentence for murder, along with 20 years for housebreaking and robbery, and five years for sexual assault, all to run concurrently with the life term.
The other four applicants, Ndlala, Maja, Mbokane and Zuma, were convicted of housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Three received ten-year sentences, while Zuma was handed a 20-year term due to his criminal history.
Appeals rejected
In his comprehensive judgement, Judge Lever applied the stringent test for leave to appeal established under the Superior Courts Act, which requires applicants to demonstrate that an appeal would have reasonable prospects of success rather than merely being arguable.
Qhautse’s appeal was rejected after the court found his challenges to evidence unreliable. Judge Lever noted that the accused failed to testify in his own defence and did not dispute much of the key evidence during cross-examination, including testimony from Warrant Officer Dibebe and forensic evidence linking him to the crime scene through a footprint match. Judge Lever applied the mandatory life sentence for murder, finding no substantial and compelling reasons to depart from the prescribed sentence.
Ndlala and Mbokane claimed they were only in Kimberley to perform rituals and dig for coins. However, Judge Lever found their version “simply not credible,” noting they shared in the robbery proceeds despite claiming ignorance of the crimes. Both were found to be poor witnesses who could not explain numerous improbabilities in their testimony.
Zuma challenged the admissibility of mobile phone evidence that placed him at the crime scene, arguing it was obtained through unlawful search and seizure. Judge Lever dismissed this as “simply a non sequitur,” finding the evidence was lawfully obtained and that the accused had failed to challenge its admissibility during the original trial.
For Zuma his 20-year sentence was actually reduced from the prescribed 25 years due to his advanced age and the nearly four years he had already spent in custody awaiting trial. However, his three previous convictions and the fact he was on probation when the crimes were committed were aggravating factors.
All five applications were dismissed, with Judge Lever finding no rational basis for believing another court would reach different conclusions.
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