Bester Pieter Christiaan

Age 63. Former Cheetahs and Griquas rugby prop and retired magistrate, killed on his smallholding. The attack occurred at approximately 20:00 at his smallholding, named Wag-'n-Bietjie, situated along the Modder River. Bester, a well-known sports legend who played tighthead prop for the Free State Cheetahs and Northern Cape Griquas in the 1990s, was visited at his residence by his garden worker of seventeen years, Jan Bangile Dael, and Dael's wife, Letiscia Adams. An argument broke out between the men after consuming alcohol, which escalated into a violent physical fight. Dael went to a storeroom, retrieved a heavy garden fork, and used it to brutally strike Bester, inflicting multiple chop and stab wounds to his face and neck, alongside a fatal skull fracture. The attackers abandoned the collapsed, heavily injured man in front of his garage and went home. Bester's body was discovered the following morning, Sunday, 12 January 2025, at approximately 09:00 by another worker who found him lying in a pool of blood.Following immediate coordination between the local farming community and the South African Police Service, law enforcement agents swiftly arrested both Bangile Dael and Letiscia Adams. The case was elevated to the High Court of South Africa, Free State Division. On Tuesday, 3 February 2026, the legal proceedings concluded when fifty-two-year-old Bangile Jan Dael pleaded guilty to the charge of murder. Presiding High Court Judge Pitso Molitsoane officially convicted Dael and sentenced him to 22 years of direct imprisonment. Charges of theft and defeating the ends of justice against Dael, as well as all matching charges against his wife, Letiscia Adams, were subsequently withdrawn by the state following the plea agreement.