Justice nears for families of men tortured to death on Mpumalanga farm

After five years of grief, the families of two men who were tortured to death by a farm owner and his security guards, are close to getting justice.  

Sfiso Thwala and Musa Nene were kicked in the head repeatedly, lashed with a sjambok and electrocuted with a cattle prod until they died. 

Their friend, Sthembiso Thwala, barely survived the assault and lives with the physical and emotional scars of that day. 

The men who assaulted them allegedly tried to justify the murder by saying they were cattle thieves. 

In addition, the farm owner allegedly told the security guards not to mention to the police that he and his son were part of the assault as they are “white”. 

Eight men, including the farm owner, are currently on trial at the Middelburg High Court for the murders.

They are Zenzele Yende, Werner Potgieter, Moses Dlamini, Elliot Dlamini, Cornelius Greyling, Skhumbuzo Nhlabathi, Mzwakhe Dlamini and Sthembiso Thwala. 

Each is charged with two counts of murder, one of attempted murder, one of kidnapping and one of defeating the ends of justice. 

 The beginning; the stuck car

On the evening of the 9th of August 2020, Musa and Sfiso along with their friend, Sthembiso Thwala were travelling to Driefontein, Mpumalanga. 

The men were travelling to send groceries and money to Sthembiso’s mother who had just assumed care of his children. 

On the way, the Toyota sedan they were travelling in got stuck on a public road, about 10-kilometres from their intended destination. 

The road was near several farms where cattle theft had been an issue. 

Security guards from Bampoen farm (also known as Pampoenkraal farm), who were doing night patrol around the farms approached the men in the stationary car. 

One of the state witnesses told the court they initially thought they were cattle thieves. 

“They accosted all the three passengers in the car and severely assaulted them for being on the road near the farm,” the court indictment read. 

“They collected two sheep and put (the men) into the boot of their car and drove them into Bampoen Fam and assaulted them further until two succumbed to their death.”

The cause of death for Musa and Sfiso is listed as “subdural haemorrhage” where blood vessels inside the brain burst due to head injury. 

The Testimony

Mthokozisi Vilakazi is a former security guard at Bampoen farm. He was on night patrol on the evening of the incident. 

He was one of three former Bampoen security guards from that day who have turned state witnesses. 

Vilakazi testified about how they beat up the three men because they were in a “suspicious” car. 

He said after kicking them, one of the security guards got a sjambok from their car. 

“He was beating them using thick side of the sjambok, so he was holding it the wrong way,” said Vilakazi.

Vilakazi said pliers and two cattle prodders were brought to torture the three men. 

He said the torture lasted for hours, going from around 9pm at night to just over midnight. 

Vilakazi said by the time they stopped, all the three men could not walk by themselves. 

He said a plan was devised there to plant two sheep in the car and paint them as cattle thieves who tried to fight back when caught.

Vilakazi said they transported the men back to the Bampoen farm with their car and the planted sheep. 

“We were told to clean them up, so they look beautiful for the police,” said Vilakazi. 

He said the men were stripped and hosed down with water and applied with Vaseline (petroleum jelly).

Vilakazi told the court by 2am they placed the injured men back into their car and four security guards were asked to look after them until the police came in the morning to fetch them. 

The deaths

Vilakazi was part of the four men tasked with watching over the three injured men. 

After a few hours, Vilakazi said he took a walk to “stretch his legs” with one of his colleagues. 

When they got back from the walk, the other two security guards told them there was an issue with the men in the car. 

“They were not moving,” he said. “We called out to them from outside the car but only the one in the front seat responded faintly.”

Vilakazi said they suspected the two men were dead. 

By this time, the police were on the entrance gates to the farm, coming to collect the apprehended cattle thieves. 

It was at this moment that Vilakazi said they informed the farm owner, Werner Potgieter, that two of the men are dead. 

“He (Potgieter) told us not to panic because he will get us the best lawyer in the country who will make this go away,” said Vilakazi. 

Vilakazi said Potgieter told the security guards to make ‘false’ statements to the police but also leave him and his son out.

“He said because they were white, if they were mentioned this case would be much bigger than it should,” said Vilakazi. 

When the police took down their statements in the presence of their lawyer, Vilakazi said they all repeated the “lie” they were told by Potgieter.

Survivor wakes up

Vilakazi said a few days after making the police statements, he got a call from Potgieter saying they needed to go to a police station.

“He (Potgieter) told us not to worry as this is a formality, the lawyer will deal with it,” said Vilakazi.

Vilakazi said they were kept in police holding cells for about two days before they were transferred to court.

Vilakazi said he is unclear what happened on that day, but they never appeared the magistrate and they were released.

“When we walked out of the court, accused number 2 (Potgieter) was waiting for, saying he told us the whole thing would go away,” he said.

EWN later established the matter was never enrolled in court. 

After the incident, Vilakazi said a few of the  security guards, including him, requested to be transferred to another farm. 

He said Potgieter organised for them to work at a farm in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, doing the same job of guarding cattle but this time it was cows instead of sheep. 

After working for about three-months at the KZN farm, from August to October, Vilakazi said he resigned and went to his home, also in KZN.

In February 2021, Vilakazi said he got a call from police, saying he needed to go back to Mpumalanga for an identity parade.

One of the survivors from the incident, Sthembiso Thwala, had woken up from hospital and wanted to point out to police the people who assaulted him. 

Vilakazi said after the identity parade, one of his former colleagues told him that he had come clean to the police about what really happened on that day. 

With the guilt weighing heavy on him, Vilakazi contacted the investigating officer and “told the real story this time,” he said.

Coka brothers death

Vilakazi said the men who encouraged him to come clean was a former security guard at Bampoen farm, Zenzele Coka. 

Coka was present during the alleged assault. 

In April 2021, Coka along with his brother, Mgcini were killed at the Bampoen farm. 

Coka had allegedly been trying to break up a fight between job seekers and the farm owners when shots rang out and he died. 

Seven men were accused of killing the Coka brothers, with three of them (Potgieter, Greyling and Yende) also suspects in this case. 

On the 7th of June 2023, all seven men were found not guilty. 

Justice, finally – Family

Thandi Thwala describes her young brother, Sfiso, as a happy, humble man. 

For the Thwala family, it’s been an agonising five years trying to find out what really happened to him. 

“We were starting to give up because sometimes situations like these just fizzle into thin air,” said Thandi. 

“Our parents are old and it pains them every day that the people who killed their children have not been prosecuted yet.”

Musa Nene has been described as a doting father to his two children and an honourable husband. 

Thokozani Nene said his younger brother was a ‘beacon’ to his parents’ eyes and always assisted around the house. 

“He used to help our mother a lot because our father is an elderly sick man,” said Thokozani. 

“His death has left us with nothing.”

The defence

During the cross-examination, Jaap Cilliers, defence lawyer, grilled Vilakazi on his character. 

Cilliers suggested to Vilakazi that the reason the two white men did not want to be mentioned as being part of the incident was because it would be a racial crime.

“I don’t know that, they can answer for themselves,” responded Vilakazi. “My understanding is they just wanted to exonerate themselves.”

Cilliers put it to Vilakazi that when he made his first police statement, he swore an oath that the contents of the statement are true. 

“Are you the type of person to lie under oath,” asked Cilliers. 

“No, I am not but at the time, I didn’t think of the consequences,” responded Vilakazi. 

Cilliers said it was unlikely that Vilakazi would not think of the consequences because this was a “very serious matter” in which two people are dead.

Vilakazi told Cilliers they (he and other security guards) were not promised anything by Potgieter when he asked them to lie on his behalf. 

The trial has been set down for 8-weeks and is expected to conclude around mid-September.