Cape Town - It was a bittersweet moment when the man accused of dousing a mother of four with petrol and setting her alight was found guilty – six years after her murder – while his co-accused was set free.
Elridge du Plessis, 37, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mishkaah Fakier, 44, who suffered burn wounds to 70% of her body when she was attacked in Hout Bay in January, 2018.
Fakier, who was also beaten during the ordeal, was hospitalised and had managed to name her attacker before she died.
The State proved that Du Plessis planned to murder Fakier after he accused her of stealing drugs from him.
At the Wynberg Regional Court on Friday, Du Plessis was found guilty of Fakier’s murder.
His co-accused, Denzil du Plessis, 38, who is his cousin, was acquitted.
Denzil previously also pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said: “Accused number one was convicted and accused two was found not guilty. The case has been postponed to June 7 for sentencing.”
Fakier’s family, who were present at court, said they were filled with emotions after listening to the summary of the case, where details of her injuries were revealed.
Her relative, Fadwah Vardien, said they were relieved that a verdict had been reached.
“It was hard to listen to what she had to endure, she was left with 70% of burns to her body,” she said.
“His lawyer tried to paint a picture of him being a hero.
“It was very sad for us to hear how she had suffered. We were shocked to hear how she managed to walk with those injuries and tell a witness who did it to her and what happened.
“It was traumatic and we are asking for the maximum sentence of life for him. We are grateful to the investigating officer who kept us informed from day one.
“It is very rare that you get police officers who stand by the family like he did and we commend him for that.
“This case’s lengthy trial period could have been avoided because one of the accused claimed he could not understand English and it had to be translated into Afrikaans, when in fact he could understand both languages.”
The Cape Argus previously reported that Fakier’s murder trial was one of several that sat for years on the court roll across the province, experiencing various delays due to the backlog of evidence, absenteeism of judicial staff, and the changing of defence counsel and administrative reasons.
Last month, the Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety’s Court Watching Brief unit reported that in the third quarter of 2023, it monitored 265 cases at 10 courts, which had jurisdiction over 35 police stations, and that the 265 cases were struck off the court roll due to systemic inefficiencies in the police.
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za
Cape Argus