Two sentenced for brutal killing of Northern Cape farmer

MORE than seven years after the shocking murder of a Jan Kempdorp farmer, justice has finally caught up with his killers.

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Sergio Kock said that the Northern Cape High Court this week sentenced two men - Kernels Persent, 23, and Maxim Hutama, 24 - to 18 years behind bars for the brutal murder of 60-year-old Renier Adrian Jooste, whose lifeless body was discovered in January 2018 on his farm plot.

Jooste was found naked with a stab wound to the chest. He had been severely assaulted. The grim discovery by an employee triggered a high-level police investigation.

The SAPS Provincial Organised Crime Unit, supported by the K9 Unit and Crime Scene Management team, followed up on leads that led them to a chicken farm near Jan Kempdorp, where three suspects were arrested.

The attackers had fled Jooste’s property with valuables including bank cards, cellphones, electrical tools, and alcoholic beverages. During the arrest operation, police recovered most of the stolen items.

While one of the suspects, Lucky Bohelo, 26, was acquitted of all charges, his co-accused were found guilty of both murder and robbery. The court ruled that the 18-year sentence for murder and the five-year sentence for robbery handed down to Persent and Hutama would run concurrently.

The Northern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Koliswa Otola, praised Detective Warrant Officer Patrick Dibebe and his team from Provincial Organised Crime Investigations for their meticulous work, which led to a solid conviction and lengthy prison sentences.

The sentencing brings a measure of closure to a case that shocked the local farming community and sparked renewed concerns about rural safety in the Northern Cape.