Farm murder confession
Cape Town -120620 - Mfundiso Yese speaks to his representation. Right Simamkele Mralaza. Four accused stood before the High Court today in a sentencing and one (Vizicelo Madulo) in an appeal case before Judge Hennings for a farm murder in Stellenbosch of farm owner Alberto Costa. REPORTER: JADE WITTEN. PICTURE: THOMAS HOLDER Cape Town -120620 - Mfundiso Yese speaks to his representation. Right Simamkele Mralaza. Four accused stood before the High Court today in a sentencing and one (Vizicelo Madulo) in an appeal case before Judge Hennings for a farm murder in Stellenbosch of farm owner Alberto Costa. REPORTER: JADE WITTEN. PICTURE: THOMAS HOLDER
A Western Cape High Court was hesitant to accept a plea bargain a 26-year-old man had negotiated with prosecuting authorities, in which he confessed to killing well-known Stellenbosch farmer, Alberto Costa, in February last year.
Judge Robert Henney said he was “uneasy” about imposing an effective sentence of 17 years for murder and other charges related to the killing - possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and attempted housebreaking.
Vizicelo Madolo of the Kayamandi informal settlement, and three co-accused, appeared in court on Wednesday.
State advocate Maria Marshall informed Judge Henney that Madolo’s trial would be separated from that of his co-accused and that he had negotiated a plea and sentence agreement in terms of which he would plead guilty to the murder.
She read an extract from the agreement in which Madolo implicated his co-accused and confessed that they armed themselves with a knife, crowbar, two guns and a screwdriver before proceeding to Costa’s Cloetesville farm on February 18 last year.
Costa’s premises had electric fencing, security cameras and an alarm system. “All of us wore caps because we knew cameras were installed,” Madolo admitted in the agreement.
He said the group intended to break into the farm. However, they didn’t even get close to the farmhouse because Costa heard a noise and went on to his porch to investigate.
“(Costa) came out and had a rifle in his hand but didn’t fire it. (Mralaza) fired three shots at (Costa)… (Costa) fired one shot,” Madolo said.
Initially, Costa remained standing on the porch. But, after a short while, he leaned on his rifle, held his chest, fell to his knees and collapsed.
The men fled the scene and two months after the incident police arrested Madolo at his home.
A post-mortem report revealed that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and torso and severe blood loss.
In terms of the plea bargain, Madolo and the State agreed on an effective sentence of 17 years in jail.
The agreement stated that the sentences imposed for the other charges run concurrently with the sentence for the murder - 22 years, of which five years were suspended.
The other sentences stipulated in the agreement were six years for the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition respectively and eight years for attempted housebreaking with the intent to rob.
But Judge Henney said he was not satisfied with an effective 17 years in jail saying he felt “uneasy” about it.
“I’ve been doing this for years and... this type of murder... at night... with cameras and electric fences. It (the farm) was like a fortress.
“They were there previously… they went there again and they killed someone,” Judge Henney said.
He postponed the case to tomorrow so that he could revisit the sentence.
The trial against the three other men, Mfundiso Derrick Yese, Simamkele Mralaza and Cedrick Vusumzi Mphakathi, was expected to start on July 30. A fifth suspect is still at large, the court heard. - Cape Argus