The Worcester Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced Willem Olivier and Kelvin Vlok to an effective 42 years’ direct imprisonment each after they were convicted for the murder of an elderly woman at Papkuil Farm in Ceres.
Their co-accused, who was a minor at the time of the offence, was sentenced to an effective 15 years’ direct imprisonment. The court also declared all three accused unfit to possess a firearm.
Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the State charged Olivier, 52, Vlok, 24, and their now 20-year-old co-accused with robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.
Ntabazalila said the State proved that on 4 March 2023, Olivier asked Vlok and the minor to accompany him to Papkuil Farm in Ceres to address a wage dispute with his employer, 77-year-old Christina Walters.
When they arrived at the farm, Olivier asked Walters for two cigarettes. When she returned, the three accused attacked her and robbed her. The court heard that Vlok then went into the house and stole groceries, alcohol, a cellphone, four firearms, and ammunition.
Ntabazalila said the accused later fled with the stolen items and went to Olivier’s residence at Klein Papkuil Farm. Vlok and the minor then travelled by donkey cart to a nearby field, where they hid the firearms and ammunition.
Police later arrested the accused after acting on information received. According to Ntabazalila, the accused cooperated with police, pointed out the hidden firearms, and the minor confessed to the offences.
The accused entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State and admitted to the crimes. Ntabazalila said they accepted the court’s proposed sentence in light of the evidence against them.
The court sentenced Olivier and Vlok to 12 years’ direct imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, 30 years’ direct imprisonment for murder, 10 years’ direct imprisonment for illegal possession of a firearm, and 10 years’ direct imprisonment for illegal possession of ammunition.
The sentences for illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition will run concurrently with the murder sentence, resulting in an effective 42-year prison term for each.
The 20-year-old co-accused was sentenced in terms of Section 71 of the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008. He received 10 years’ direct imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances and 20 years’ imprisonment for murder, with five years suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of an offence involving violence during the suspension period.
He was also sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for illegal possession of a firearm and five years’ imprisonment for illegal possession of ammunition. The court ordered those sentences to run concurrently with the murder sentence, resulting in an effective 15-year term of imprisonment.