Zuko Komisa
- Farmers Jaco Wessels Kemp, Louise Coetzee, and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen have been found guilty of the murder of Dumisani Phakathi.
- The trio assaulted Phakathi while he was fetching water, later beating him to death inside a storage facility on their poultry farm.
- Police discovered the victim’s body hidden in a vehicle during a search operation, leading to the arrests and subsequent trial.
The North West High Court has convicted three farmers for the brutal murder of Dumisani Phakathi, a local farm dweller. Jaco Wessels Kemp, Louise Coetzee, and Gert Frederik van der Westhuizen were found guilty following a trial that detailed the harrowing final hours of the deceased.
The incident occurred on 16 September 2023 at a poultry farm in Mamokgalieskraal. While the group was socialising, they spotted Mr Phakathi walking past the property to collect water from a local furrow.
The farmers intercepted him, initiated an assault, and dragged him into a storage shed where they continued the violence until he died from his injuries.
The crime was uncovered the following morning during a routine police stop-and-search on the R511.
Officers intercepted a bakkie driven by Kemp and Coetzee, only to find Mr Phakathi’s bloodied body concealed beneath black refuse bags in the vehicle’s load bed.
While the pair were arrested on-site, Van der Westhuizen surrendered to authorities days later after being linked to the murder.
Throughout the proceedings, the defendants maintained their innocence and attempted to deflect responsibility onto one another. However, the prosecution successfully dismantled these claims with witness testimony that proved their collective guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The court has postponed the matter until 16 March 2026 for sentencing.
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