Jean-Pierre Holmes, one of a trio convicted in connection with the murder of Tony Mziza, will be paroled this week, as confirmed by the Department of Correctional Services.

He was sentenced on January 27, 2022, to eight years’ imprisonment for defeating the ends of justice and being an accessory after the fact. His co-accused, Eugene Roberts, received 10 years for defeating the ends of justice, theft and accessory after the fact.

The two were implicated in Mziza’s murder, who was fatally shot before his body was set alight on a plot in Putfontein, Benoni, in May 2020.

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Mziza’s family reported him missing at the Putfontein SAPS on May 21, 2020. They had become suspicious when plastic materials used to manufacture hangers went missing from a container on the plot where Mziza lived and managed a workshop at his brother’s logistics business.

Later that day, the police found a male body burning on Vermeulen Road, Putfontein, about 300m from the plot.

Investigations into his disappearance and the alleged theft revealed that the materials had been sold in Brakpan.

On July 30, 2020, Mziza’s landlord, Roberts, was arrested. He confessed to having knowledge of two murders: Mziza’s and that of an unidentified man whose decapitated body was burnt. The victim’s head was allegedly thrown into a septic tank on a Rynfield property owned by Roberts’ friend, Ronald Holmes.

Ronald Holmes and his nephew, Jean-Pierre, were subsequently arrested. The police also recovered illegal guns and ammunition at another Benoni address belonging to Ronald.

Ronald confessed to the crimes and told the court he had fired the shots that killed the men. On April 7, he was sentenced to two life terms and an additional 79 years’ imprisonment on 13 counts.

Family forgives Jean-Pierre
Speaking to the Benoni City Times, Mziza’s brother, Kenny, said the family chose to forgive Jean-Pierre. He added that the parole board had informed the family late last year that Holmes would be eligible for parole on January 26.

“We went to the prison to attend the department’s restorative justice dialogue. We heard his side of the story and were told that he would be living with his mother in Kempton Park,” Kenny said.

He added that Jean-Pierre appeared physically different from when they last saw him.

“He has gained a lot of muscle. He seems to have spent a great deal of time exercising while in prison. They killed him; there is nothing we can do. Even if he was sentenced to life, it wouldn’t have brought back my brother,” he said.

Kenny said the family took responsibility for raising Mziza’s three children, who have grown up without their father.

He previously said that his youngest child was born on the day Mziza’s body was found. The child is now five and doing well.

“Tony trusted Eugene and regarded him as a brother. He named his last-born child ‘Eugene’ before he was born. As a family, we do not like that name because it brings trauma and sadness,” Kenny said.

He revealed that the family’s logistics business closed after Mziza’s death.

“He was the key to the business and ran it full-time because of his skills as a professional mechanical and electrical engineer,” he explained.

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