Man sentenced for murder of elderly mother

It was a case that garnered national attention with even President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioning it while addressing South Africans during a lockdown ‘family meeting’ while highlighting the seriousness of the country’s second pandemic – gender-based violence.

After almost two years of waiting for justice to be served, Robert Davie (55), the man who smothered his elderly mother Loraine Davie while she slept and then disposed of her body in a drum of cement, was sentenced on January 18 in a sitting of the High Court at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court.

Capt Pearl van Staad, the spokesperson for the Brakpan SAPS, told the Herald the matter has been outstanding for trial since June 2020.

“Davie confessed in 2020 and was found guilty but kept in custody for the period of finalising his sentence,” she said.

The Herald first published the story online on June 8, 2020 – the day Loraine’s body was found at her home. The 79-year-old Taft Avenue resident had been reported missing to local police by Robert on June 4.

He informed the SAPS his mother had told him she was going to visit a friend and then walk to the shops. A tip-off about the case was, however, received by police a few days later.

“We received information that the son was behaving suspiciously and police were summoned to the house,” van Staad said at the time.

“Upon arrival, the man was found sitting outside looking distressed.”

Further suspicion was aroused when police found two pairs of boots with dried cement caked onto them and a large plastic drum filled with hardened cement.

“The man was interrogated and said he suffocated his mother to death with a pillow while she was asleep,” continued van Staad.

“He then mixed cement in a drum outside and forcefully pressed her lifeless body into it.”

A large section of the street was cordoned off for most of the day and a police forensic team worked late into the afternoon.

“Forensics found her body after cutting open the drum,” said van Staad.

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While at the residence, police also found Loraine’s bank card had been used to purchase a new television set on June 5.

The TV and a receipt were found in the house. Robert was arrested along with a 17-year-old male, who is not related to the family.

The teenager was later released into the custody of his parents. According to van Staad, Robert was found guilty of murder, defeating the ends of justice and theft. On the murder charge, he received 25 years’ imprisonment, four years for defeating the ends of justice and one year for theft.

He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. Van Staad stated family members are relieved by the sentence but acknowledge it will not bring their loved one back.

She added they are quoted as saying, “We can now have closure knowing that Robert will pay for his sins.”

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