Two life sentences for farm murderer welcomed

The provincial police commissioner in Limpopo, Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, and the police management have welcomed the two life sentences handed down to convicted farm murderer Mpho Penuel Mbuyane on Tuesday.

He was sentenced by the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane to two terms of life imprisonment for the double murders and 15 years for three counts of house robbery.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said court found that the 37-year-old Mbuyane entered the Kalkpoort game farm outside Zebediela on 20 August 2017, robbed and shot an elderly couple several times.

“The couple identified as Piet van Zyl, 68, and his wife Tilla, 66, succumbed to the gunshot wounds at the scene. The intruder then fled the scene with valuables taken from the house,” said Mojapelo.

“Soon after this horrendous incident, an intelligence driven operation was established to track down the suspects. The team comprised of Crime Intelligence, Limpopo tracking team, Limpopo provincial investigation unit and Heritage Protection Group private security company.”

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Mojapelo said the well-coordinated operation led to the apprehension of eight suspects in Hazyview, Mpumalanga, on 4 September, 2017.

Mojapelo said the charges against the seven suspects were dropped during the trial proceedings and that only Mbuyane was linked to the crimes. The case was assigned to Warrant Officer Pila, who is attached to the provincial
detectives.

He worked tirelessly, assisted by the team, to ensure that the suspect was apprehended, jailed and jailed for life.

“These sentences should send a clear message to other criminals that the police will always be relentless when pursuing perpetrators of horrendous crimes and making sure they are brought to book,” said Hadebe.