By Mapaballo Borotho
- Three farmers have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of Dumisani Phakathi.
- His body was discovered in a bakkie during a police stop, leading to the arrest of two suspects, while a third later handed himself over.
- The court found the killing was racially motivated and noted the accused showed no remorse.
The High Court of South Africa in Pretoria has sentenced three farmers to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of farm dweller Dumisani Phakathi, in what the court found to be a racially motivated killing.
Jaco Wessels Kemp (36), Louise Coetzee (29), and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen (38) were each handed life sentences on Friday, 27 March 2026.
The court also declared them unfit to possess firearms and ordered them to surrender all weapons, ammunition, licences, and permits to authorities.
Phakathi was murdered in September 2023 while on his way to fetch water near a chicken farm in Mamokgalieskraal.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the three accused severely assaulted him until he succumbed to his injuries.
“In the early hours of 17 September 2023, Kemp and Coetzee were stopped by police during a stop-and-search operation on the R511 near Brits while driving a bakkie loaded with black refuse bags.
Officers noticed human legs protruding from the bags and, upon further inspection, discovered Phakathi’s bloodied body with his head covered in plastic. The pair was arrested on the scene,” said Mahanjana.
Van der Westhuizen later handed himself over to police on 19 September 2023 after investigations linked him to the crime.
During sentencing, the judge said the trio showed no remorse and killed Phakathi for no apparent reason. The court concluded that the murder was racially motivated.
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