Donald Seolesang, Tshepo Visagie and Tshepaone Melato were each sentenced to an effective 40 years imprisonment by the Northern Cape High Court on Friday.
Image: Sandi Kwon Hoo
THREE men convicted of the brutal triple murder of the Brand family on their smallholding near Hartswater have been sentenced to an effective 40 years imprisonment.
They were found guilty and sentenced in the Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley on Friday.
Danie Brand, 83, his wife Breggie, 73, and their daughter, Elsabe, 54, were assaulted and murdered on their farm on July 26, 2020.
During the robbery, several items were stolen from the property, including a Nissan Micra, a Mazda 5, a laptop, cellphones and a handbag.
Two of the victims’ bodies were abandoned in remote areas in the veld near Takaneng village, while the third body was concealed in a cave near a natural spring.
The deceased were tied up and strangled, while they also sustained various blunt and sharp force trauma injuries to their heads and bodies.
Acting Judge Cordelia Kgopa sentenced Donald Seolesang, 25, Tshepo Visagie, 43, and Tshepaone Melato, 24, to:
Seolesang received an additional two-year sentence for escaping from lawful arrest.
The sentences for defeating the ends of justice and escaping from lawful arrest will run concurrently with the murder and robbery sentences.
Kgopa found all the accused not guilty of kidnapping and acquitted Kgomotso Mpumlwana, 48, of all charges.
She also dismissed an application for leave to appeal Visagie’s conviction.