Two Zimbabwean nationals were sent to prison for life for the brutal rape and murder of Birchleigh resident Miemie Bergh (74) on February 16 last year.
The sentence was handed down in the South Gauteng High Court on May 16.
Bergh, a former theatre matron and scrub sister at Arwyp Medical Centre, was found naked and strangled inside the wardrobe of her Manhattan Heights home on the corner of Geelhout and Matumi Streets. She had been hit over the head with an axe.
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Captain Lesibana Molokomme, spokesperson for Norkem Park SAPS, said Tshuma Patson Mxolisi (35), who did odd jobs for Bergh, and his friend James Massamba (37), were found guilty of the murder.
Both men were given life imprisonment for murder and 15 years for robbery. Mxolisi was given an additional life sentence for the rape of Bergh.
Bergh’s body was discovered by her good friend Cora Myburgh, who became worried when Bergh didn’t show up for a coffee date. “Why her?” Myburgh asked at the time. “She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Molokomme said Mxolisi was arrested in Boksburg CBD four days after the murder, leading to the arrest of Massamba in Brentwood Park in Benoni. Massamba was found in possession of a cellphone and necklace belonging to Bergh.
Norkem Park SAPS station commander Col Tobias Strauss and detective head commander Lt Col Andri Frans Potgieter thanked the community members who came forward with information about the murder.
Ekurhuleni district commander Maj Gen Vincent Leshabane said this conviction sent a strong message to criminals that crime did not pay and that justice had been served.
