Ezra Arieh Podolski

Ezra Arieh Podolski (1935 - 2006)

Brief overview:

Ezra (71), died on 5th September 2006 after being bludgeoned on the head with a shovel and tied to a tree. His wife Miriam (61), was tied up to a chair, severely beaten - kicked, punched, slapped and chocked - demanding money and credit cards.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • 20/06/2011: "The local farming community has nothing but high praise for the sterling work being done by a group of dedicated policemen attached to Pietermaritzburg’s Organised Crime Unit under the command of Colonel Piet Scott, who lay claim to a near 100 percent success rate in solving farm murders in the KZN Midlands since 2003.
  • Of the nineteen Midlands farm murder cases handled by the team dating back to the murder of Shaun Clark in Camperdown (2003), only one, arising from the murder of Philip Rudolph Buys in Weenen in September 2003, is classed as “unsolved”. The unit arrested a total of 50 culprits in connection with the eighteen “solved” cases with 24 of the killers sentenced to life imprisonment and others receiving sentences ranging from an effective 30 years imprisonment to 18 years imprisonment.
  • The midlands farm murder cases that have been solved by the team include the murders of: Shaun Clark of Camperdown (2003); Johannes Willem Bruwer (Camperdown, 2003); Parvathie Surapen (Thornville, 2003); Charles Hyett Shepherd (Bergville, 2003); Nora Joyce Gevers (Wartburg, 2004); David Boyd Varty (Rietvlei, 2005); Trevor Anthony Weightman Trevor Weightman (Winterton, 2005); Jacqueline Ivy Chatterton (Boston, 2005); Ezra Arieh Podolski (Eric) (Cramond, 2006); Andrew Roy Main (Cramond, 2007); David Merwyn Green (Estcourt, 2007); Alan Rowe (Rietvlei, 2009); Erasmus Mncube Erasmus Mncube (and attack on his employers, Collin and Nola Barrett at Nottingham Road in 2009); Dr. Warwick Anthony Dorning (Mpophomeni, 2009); Lynette Ralfe (Colenso, 2010); Lorraine Karg , Hilda Linyane, Zakeue Shayi Mhlongo (Mooi River, 2010) and Radash Anandlal (Cramond, 2010)
  • Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joey Jeevan, said the management of the SAPF commends Colonel Scott and the unit for their “sterling investigation and their dedication to duty”."
  • http://archive.fo/oos7b
  • 71 farm murders in Colenso, Winterton rural areas between 2001 and 2011, Since 2001 there have been 17 Farmers and around 54 staff / community members murdered on 83 farms in Winterton, Colenso and surrounding areas.

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
  • The accused Nkosingpile Khumalo (21) of Matimotolo and Zikhulile Simbela (29) of Cramond, were employed by Podolski on his farm, Eric’s Farm near Albert Falls, on a temporary basis.
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • They stood before Judge Gregory Kruger in Pietermaritzburg High Court on April 14 2009. They both pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances of Podolski and his wife Miriam (61) and assault of their domestic worker, Gloria Ngidi.

Additional Biographical Information:

• Official cause of death : Unnatural
• Ezra married Miriam (born Misrahy) on 29/10/1963

Links to Media articles:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20071114142000/http://www.news24.com/Ne...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20090418153942/http://www.news24.com/Ne...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20220918180751/https://www.citizen.co.z...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20220918180801/https://www.citizen.co.z...
• https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000188863877821