Story By: Lisa-Maria Goertz, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
Three men and one woman have been convicted for the gruesome murder of two women in a same-sex relationship in South Africa who were raped, hung and then burnt.
The horrific double-murder was registered on December 10th, 2017, in the mining town of Mooinooi, in the North West province of South Africa,
Anisha and Joey van Niekerk’s bodies were found burnt beyond recognition in their car, according to national news portal news24.
Reportedly, the mastermind behind the murders was Koos Strydom, who rented a plot on the couples land where he ran his panel beating business, and who killed himself in his cell last year.
The court heard how Strydom wanted to have the plot of land and stop paying rent, but he could not afford to buy it and therefore made a fake buying contact with his wife, 24-year-old Mercia Strydom.
The Strydoms lured the Niekerk’s to their plot of land and with the aid of Aaron Sithole, 27, his brother Jack Sithole, 21, and Alex Modau, 39, robbed the couple and then murdered them.
According to news24, the Sithole brothers have also been convicted of raping the two women more than once during the day before they were hung in a shipping container on the plot until they died.
The bank cards of the two women were also stolen and the court heard how they were coerced into telling them their pin codes.
The Judge of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Bert Bam, found that there was no doubt that the four convicts had planned the murders.
According to national news outlet iol.co.za, Joey’s sister Rita Payne said the three years since the murders have been hell for their family, and she has called for life sentences for all their killers.
She said: “It was unbearable to listen through what my sister and Anisha had to go through before and after their deaths. I am just happy that the killers will have to pay for what they have done.”
According to iol.co.za, the court has been adjourned until October 15th for sentencing.
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