A 28-year-old Vereeniging farm foreman, who earlier this week tearfully said he would never be able to forgive himself for murdering three farm workers in May this year, was sentenced to an effective 20 years imprisonment on Thursday.
Dirk van Niewenhuizen hugged family members and tried to console his crying mother after he was sentenced by the Pretoria High Court.
Van Niewenhuizen pleaded guilty to three murder charges and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition on Monday.
He told the court on Thursday that he had been left shattered after he was wrongly accused of theft and fired from his job at a farm near Alma in the Limpopo district.
He returned to the farm, where he shot Albert Langa and Nando Masinhi at close range in their beds where they lay asleep and then shot Alexander James Pilanculo during a struggle.
Van Niewenhuizen could not explain why he killed the men, who had been his friends and had worked with on the farm.
Acting Judge Joseph Raulinga sentenced Van Niewenhuizen to 20 years imprisonment on each of the murder charges and a further two years imprisonment for the illegal firearm and ammunition possession, but ordered that some of the sentences run concurrently.
He found that a life sentence would not be appropriate, because the murders were neither premeditated nor planned.
”I think the accused has been a good person all of his life. He was obedient and a hard worker. He had to leave his family and work 200km away to support them. Unfortunately, something caused him to land where he is today.
”I don’t think for a moment he is prison material.
Unfortunately, he committed serious crimes which requires punishment,” he said.
The judge found that Van Niewenhuizen had worked hard to support his wife and two sons, of whom one had cerebral palsy.
Although racism was problematic in South Africa, the issue should not be the overriding factor when different races were involved.
”I believe the majority of people in this country, both black and white, are not racists. I don’t think the accused was a racist. He had acted out of frustration. He wanted to work and provide for
his family, but was falsely accused and then he committed this act,” Judge Raulinga said. – Sapa