TWO VIOLENT offenders are now behind bars after the Sutherland Regional Court sentenced them to a combined 22 years in prison for separate incidents of murder and attempted murder that rocked the small Northern Cape town last year.

In one of the cases, 24-year-old Jandre Hanekom was handed a 15-year direct imprisonment term for the brutal killing of Eden Visagie, a 20-year-old man who tragically lost his life during a domestic dispute turned deadly.

According to Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Merapelo Pilane, the incident unfolded on the evening of May 4, 2024, when Visagie visited his girlfriend at her home in Skema. An argument with her father escalated to a street brawl, which took a fatal turn when Hanekom intervened and stabbed the young man multiple times in the upper body.

Visagie was rushed to hospital but later died from his injuries. Hanekom was arrested that same night and remained in custody throughout the trial.

In a separate case, 55-year-old Hendrik Prins was sentenced to seven years of direct imprisonment for an attempted murder that occurred just a day before the Visagie killing.

Sergeant Pilane explained that on May 3, 2024, a gathering in Hopland ended in violence when Prins, after joining a group of friends for drinks, got into a heated argument with one of the men, Eben Pieterse.

The confrontation escalated, and Prins pulled out a knife, stabbing Pieterse in the head and upper body before fleeing the scene. Pieterse survived and was treated at a nearby hospital, while Prins was tracked down, arrested, and later convicted.

Both Hanekom and Prins have also been declared unfit to possess firearms.

The swift resolution of both cases has been credited to the tenacious work of Sergeant Barroleen Motha, whose investigations helped bring the perpetrators to justice in under a year, earning praise from the district commissioner of Namakwa, Brigadier Skalk Andrews.

Law enforcement officials continue to urge community members to stand against crime by reporting suspicious or unlawful activity through the MySAPS app or by calling the Crime Stop hotline at 08600 10111.

- DFA

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Sutherland court sends violent offenders to prison for 22 years