Three men convicted of and sentenced for Leslie farm attack
The three accused were found guilty on 17 charges.
Three men, aged between 29 and 43, have been convicted to life imprisonment with an additional 71 years each for a violent farm attack. The sentence was handed down to Thubelihle Ndwandwe, Siyabonga Ndwandwe and Muzikayifane Ndwandwe by the Evander Regional Court on Monday, July 28.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s provincial spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, the attack took place in Leslie on September 7, 2022.
The three men posed as prospective cattle buyers and launched an attack on the farm owner’s wife and an employee.
“The wife was strangled and stabbed multiple times, and the employee was threatened with a firearm. The attackers stole R10 000 in cash, an airgun, car keys and a grinder,” she said.
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Nyuswa said, despite denying involvement, the accused were found guilty on 17 charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Nyuswa highlighted that the state prosecutor, Sheetal Kissoon, presented compelling testimony from over 30 witnesses, placing the accused at the crime scene.
The breakdown of each accused’s sentences includes life imprisonment for attempted murder, three years for each count of kidnapping, 15 years for each count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, 10 years for each count of possession of an unlicensed firearm, five years for each count of pointing a firearm, 10 years for housebreaking with intent to commit an offence, five years for theft, and five years for robbery and attempted robbery.
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According to Nyuswa, the court ordered certain sentences to run concurrently, including those for firearm possession, pointing of a firearm and the robbery-related charges. “All three accused were declared unfit to possess firearms,” she said.
