Recapping most intriguing and extensively covered criminal trials of the year
|||High Profile
The trial relating to the murder of UK honeymoon bride Anni Dewani has been one of the most gripping court stories of the year, intriguing people around the world.
Dewani’s murder two years ago struck a chord with many, and the trial of gunman Xolile Mngeni received extensive local and international coverage.
Scores of people filled the public gallery every day of the trial.
While Mngeni was sentenced to life imprisonment for Dewani’s murder, shuttle taxi driver Zola Tongo and their accomplice Mziwamadoda Qwabe received 18 and 25 years respectively after they struck a plea deal with the State.
All eyes are now on Dewani’s husband, Shrien, who the State alleges masterminded the killing for R15 000. His extradition hearing is expected to start in the UK on June 1.
Thandi Maqubela
Another high-profile case heard in the Western Cape High Court was that of Thandi Maqubela, who, with co-accused Vela Mabena, is alleged to have killed her husband, Patrick, an acting judge on the Western Cape High Court Bench, in 2009. The trial continues in February.
‘Jub Jub’ Maarohanye
Musician Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye and his co-accused, Themba Tshabalala, were found guilty of murdering four youngsters and driving under the influence of alcohol and contraband - they were each given a 25 year sentence.
Family members of the dead were outraged, saying they did not feel the sentence was harsh enough.
J Arthur Brown
The multibillion-rand fraud trial of former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown finally got under way in the Western Cape High Court this year.
Brown is at the centre of one of the decade’s biggest fraud scandals. He allegedly embezzled R1.5 billion from entities including the pension funds of windows and orphans. After changing lawyers multiple times, Brown finally represented himself in court and pleaded not guilty to nine counts, including four of fraud, corruption and theft. He was arrested in 2007.
Shumsheer Singh Gumman
Australian chartered accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman – dubbed the “Dewani copycat” because he came to South Africa to hire someone to kill his love interest’s father – was sentenced to an effective nine years in jail by the Cape Town Regional Court. His plan was foiled when alleged hit man Siyabulela Yalezo did not go ahead with the plan and came clean to his target, Philip Rhind.
jan johannes schietekat
Serial sex pest Jan Johannes Schietekat, 62, was sentenced to 15 years in jail by the Cape Town Regional Court for raping a Fish Hoek woman in full view of her two-year-old son on the Bloubergstrand beachfront.
Schietekat, who had 11 previous convictions – eight of them for sex offences – told the court he thought the woman was a prostitute, but magistrate Michelle Adams didn’t buy his story and convicted him of rape and sexual assault.
Johannes Kleinhans
Another sex offender, Johannes Kleinhans, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting teenage girls and paying them to pose seductively while he took pictures of them.
But his guilty plea was overturned and a full trial went ahead. Magistrate Amanda von Leeve later formally convicted him of 95 counts, including the indecent assault of three girls and the illegal possession of child pornography. Sentencing proceedings are due to start on January 17.
Sisa Nonama
The trial into the deadly bus crash on the Hex River Pass in De Doorns two years ago is expected to start next year. Sisa Nonama, who pleaded guilty to 23 counts of culpable homicide, is to be sentenced on January 30.
Another case set to continue early next year is the drunk driving case of 2005 Idols winner Karen Kortje. She is due back in court in April.
Bruno Bronn
Five men accused of murdering Bronx nightclub owner Bruno Bronn are due to go on trial in the High Court on February 18.
John Frederick Coetzer, Fareez Allie, Achmat Toffa and Kurt Erispe have been charged with strangling Bronn to death in February. His body was found inside his Green Point home on February 7.
Olwyn Cowley
A group of men accused of murdering Olwyn Cowley, 21, in the so-called “Gumtree murder” are due back in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court early next year. Soegbodien Abvajee, once one of the Cape’s most wanted men, is one of the four men alleged to have killed Cowley for his BMW 325ti on August 30. They have not yet been asked to plead to the charges.
Jason van Antwerpen
Another peculiar case to hit the courts is that of businessman Jason van Antwerpen, who allegedly donned a mask and burgled the Shimansky store at the V&A Waterfront, stealing jewels worth R1.6 million. A trial date in his aggravated robbery case is expected to be set on January 18.
Najwa Petersen
Convicted killer Najwa Petersen’s siblings – accused of fraud and tax violations related to their fruit company, Dirk Fruit – have indicated they want to enter into a plea agreement with the State in January.
jade.otto@inl.co.za
The Argus