Mimmie Graham

Mimmie Graham ( +-1928 - 2008)

Brief overview:

Mimmie, who was alone at the time, was murdered in her granny flat during a robbery at her daughter Yvonne and son-in-law Natie Zietsman’s Winklespruit smallholding on May 27th 2008. She was bound with her hairdryer cord and gagged with a doily.

Four men called her out to the gate to ask for directions. Only two got back into a silver Toyota Yaris. When Minnie turned her back, two jumped over the fence and attacked her. Her hearing aid was dislodged and later found in the garden. Yvonne believes her mother made so much noise that the men, not knowing she was hard of hearing as her hearing aid was missing, they strangled her to keep her quiet. Natie found Minnie’s body when he returned home just after 4pm.

A police informant tipped the police off, leading them to a suspects house in KwaMashu. They found him hiding in a cupboard. The Zietsmans identified a computer tower and TV found in his house as theirs. Inspector Naidoo of the then murder and robbery squad in Cato Manor headed the case.

Three years after the murder, Yvonne and Natie were grateful that the two remaining men of the original four were found guilty of murder and robbery by Durban High Court Judge Chiman Patel. The other two men are deceased. "It feels good to finally hear them found guilty," said Yvonne. "I didn’t think we would get a conviction on the murder charge." Thabiso Masemula (29) and Sandile Gumede (30) were sentenced to life for murder and 15 years for aggravated robbery, after pleading not guilty to the charges. They appealed both charges, but the judge overruled the robbery appeal.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

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
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20111102033513/http://www.looklocal.co....
• http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2011/04/whites-wage-hand-...