Court hears of 'double plot' to kill couple over land

In the final few days of Anisha and Joey van Niekerk's lives, they had no idea they were at the centre of not one, but two plots to have them killed.

Now Koos Strydom, his wife Mercia, his employee Aaron Sithole and two other men, Jack Sithole and Alex Mudau, are on trial at the high court in Pretoria for their alleged role in the 2017 rape and murder of the young couple.

The state alleges that the Van Niekerks were repeatedly raped, tortured, shot and their bodies set alight.

Two years later, it is still not clear what happened to their bodies. While human remains were found on Strydom's farm, only Anisha's could be conclusively identified.

This week the court heard how Strydom had allegedly hired two gangs to perform the kidnapping that would later claim the young women's lives. The kidnapping was seemingly part of a bid to force the young couple to sell him their plot of land.

A forensic expert also explained that the bone remains found on Strydom's farm likely came from at least three different people, with at least one of them killed at a different time to the others.

Nelson Malate spent hours on Wednesday explaining to the court how his friend Aaron Sithole (known to him by his middle name, James) had contacted him in December 2017 to do piece-work for Strydom.

He said James had refused to explain the job on the phone, though he was asked to bring friends he could trust to help with the work.

Malate testified that when he and his friend Elliot arrived at Strydom's smallholding a few days later, Strydom told them he needed them to kidnap two women with whom he had business dealings.

He said he was told that Strydom claimed he was unable to make a full payment to the women in a business deal gone wrong. "He said it's a very easy job, like taking candy from a baby, it's women," Malate said.

Malate and two other men, known to him as Elliot and Moses, agreed to take on the job for R50,000.

Malate testified that Mercia Strydom would provide the gun and uniforms so they could pose as Eskom workers so as to access the Van Niekerk's house.

On the day of the proposed kidnapping, Malate said he received a deposit of R15,000, the uniforms and a pistol.

But he said there was "a party" going on at the Van Niekerk's place that day, and when they realised they wouldn't be able to kidnap the women, he decided to take the money and run.

The state alleges that a few days later, a second group hired by Strydom, the Sitholes and Mudau, committed the kidnapping and murders.

Malate's testimony was painful to hear for Joey's sister, Rina Payne, sitting with the rest of her family in the court gallery.

"That wasn't a party we were having that day," she told the Sunday Times, "we were there planning my father's funeral. A few days later, Joey was meant to come and help [identify] our father's body, and when she didn't arrive, we knew something was wrong."

When her husband went to check on Joey and Anisha's home to try and find them, he found Strydom on the premises, saying the couple had given him the keys and that they'd gone away.

Just three days later, Strydom and his co-accused were arrested.

The case again had to be postponed to next week after Strydom's lawyer, Molden Hauer, became ill on Thursday.

Judge Bert Bam on Wednesday also ordered that Strydom be held apart from the other accused after allegations that he had threatened them.