Man gets 20 years for brutal attack on award-winning farmer
Court sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for violently targeting and seriously injuring a respected Free State farmer in a farm attack.
The court ruled that the attacker had planned the assault and carried it out with extreme cruelty.
The Regional Court sitting in Winnie Mandela (formerly Brandfort) sentenced Moeketsi Mphatlatsa, 35, following his conviction for his role in a 2020 farm attack on Ms Mimie Jacobs, a former Farmer of the Year and a prominent figure in her rural community.
On the evening of 22 February 2020, Mphatlatsa and two accomplices broke into Jacobs' farmhouse.
They kicked down her door, tied her hands and feet with wire, and stabbed her multiple times.
During the ordeal, the attackers told her they knew she lived alone, showing they had deliberately planned the attack.
Despite sustaining serious neurological injuries, Jacobs managed to free herself after the attackers fled.
She then walked more than seven kilometres to a neighbouring farmhouse to seek help.
Her determination to survive, prosecutors said, played a key role in bringing the attackers to justice.
In his sentencing argument, Regional Court Prosecutor Puseletso Ali described the crime as 'merciless and orchestrated.'
'The attack was a deliberate and targeted act against a woman living alone on her farm, a place that should have been a sanctuary,' Ali said.
'Instead, she was terrorised, overpowered, and brutalised in her own home.' He stressed, 'Such crimes demand the strongest possible response from the courts.'
The court convicted Mphatlatsa on three charges: housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery, kidnapping, and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was sentenced to 15 years for housebreaking and robbery, 5 years for kidnapping, and 10 years for assault.
The court ordered the assault sentence to run concurrently with the robbery sentence, making his total effective prison term 20 years.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the court's ruling.
Regional spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane said the sentence sends a strong message to those who target vulnerable people, especially in rural areas.
Senokoatsane stated that 'violent, organised attacks like this threaten the safety and unity of rural communities. '
He added that the sentence shows the justice system will act firmly to protect the most vulnerable.
'The NPA remains committed to securing convictions and ensuring appropriate sentences are imposed,' he said.
Meanwhile, investigations continue to identify and locate Mphatlatsa's two accomplices, who remain at large.
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