Men accused of rape, murder of elderly former matron get life in prison

Two Zimbabwean nationals were sent to prison for life for the brutal rape and murder of 74-year-old Birchleigh resident Miemie Bergh on February 16 last year.

The sentence was handed down on May 16 in the High Court in Johannesburg, reports Kempton Express.

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 in Birchleigh. She had been hit over the head with an axe.

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Captain Lesibana Molokomme, spokesperson for Norkem Park SAPS, said 35-year-old Tshuma Patson Mxolisi, 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.

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