Men who murdered farmer jailed for 23 years

Three men convicted of murdering and robbing 74-year-old Nqanqarhu (formerly Maclear) farmer Francis Davidson in April last year have each been sentenced to an effective 23 years’ imprisonment.

Yamkelani Funaphi, 25, Thembelani Mazibuko, 40, and Andile Dyani, 29, attacked Davidson on his farm, WhoaHa, near the Port River Bridge.

They beat him, cut him with broken bottles and poured boiling liquid on him before leaving him tied up in his farmhouse.

Though he regained consciousness and was able to talk to his doctor, he died as a result of the beating about four weeks later while still in ICU.

His bakkie was later found torched in the Tsitsana Katkop area.

Funaphi, Mazibuko and Dyani were found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by burning Davidson’s bakkie. Funaphi and Dyani were also found guilty of housebreaking with intent to commit theft.

Makhanda high court judge Avinash Govindjee last week said the three men had struck Davidson with fists and beat him in a way that caused his head to repeatedly strike a table, chairs and a wall.

They had also poured hot liquid on him, causing severe burns on about 15% of his body. He had also been stabbed in the head.

While Govindjee said the men may not have intended to murder the farmer, they had foreseen that their actions could result in his death.

They were convicted of murder based on dolus eventualis rather than dolus directus.

He said the three were all first offenders, had pleaded guilty to the crimes and co-operated with the investigation.

But they had left behind a trail of devastation, including the Davidson family who would sorely miss him.

Davidson had also been a mentor for emerging farmers now “stripped of the benefit of his knowledge and [who] would suffer financially as a result”.

In addition, his employees were now redundant, and, in most cases, their services had already been terminated.

Govindjee said the courts had taken notice of the pervasiveness and complexities of the extent of farm attacks in SA in general.

He also noted the evidence that showed the prevalence of these crimes in Elliot, Maclear and Ugie.

In 2019 alone, there were a total of 552 farm attacks and 57 related murders in SA.