Weites Willem

Age 79. On the morning of 21 October 2013, three men arrived at the family’s dairy business pretending that they wanted to buy milk. Weites was working with his daughter, Everlien, when the men confronted them. When his daughter was threatened, he intervened in an attempt to protect her. He was shot and died at the scene. Contemporary reports state that he was shot twice, in the head and chest. IOL +1 The attackers assaulted Everlien and her mother, Gerdina, who was 76, and forced the family to open a safe. They stole approximately R40,000, along with jewellery, cellphones and the family’s Nissan bakkie. Farm workers were also threatened and restrained during the robbery. The vehicle was subsequently recovered some distance from the property. IOL +1 The farm was identified in court reporting as Welkom, in the Ngome area. Reports differ slightly in their descriptions of the precise circumstances: police described Weites as working on a water pump when the men confronted him, while his son told The Witness that his father intervened when Everlien was threatened. Both accounts agree that he was shot in the head and chest. IOL +2 In April 2014, Mzumuhle Ntshangase, Moses Sigawuge and Big-Boy Ncube pleaded guilty and were convicted in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Ntshangase had planned the robbery, Sigawuge took part in the attack, and Ncube drove the attackers to the farm. Ntshangase and Sigawuge received life imprisonment for the murder, together with additional 15-year sentences for aggravated robbery. Ncube, who was described as the driver and not part of the original murder plot, received 20 years for murder and 15 years for aggravated robbery.