Willem Engelbrecht

Willem Engelbrecht (1920 - 1991)

Brief overview:

Willem (71), his wife Sophia Engelbrecht (68), their daughter Helena Smit (40), and her daughter Michelle Smit (11), were shot dead on the farm Grootstry near Verkeerdevlei in Brandfort on 22nd December 1991.

A worker, Gabriel Mahakoe (42), who had only been working for the Engelbrecht couple for three weeks, then loaded up their vehicle with two suitcases filled with clothes and valuables, and drove to Bloemfontein. He was arrested a few days later, and appeared in the Free State Supreme Court on 21st April 1992, and sentenced to death, but later received amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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
  • EXTRACT FROM THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY FARM ATTACKS (2003):

CASE STUDIES 2 - Engelbrecht: 1991-12-22

"Willem Engelbrecht (aged 71) and his wife Sophia (68) lived on the farm Grootstry near Verkeerdevlei in the district of Brandfort. The accused, Gabriel Mahakoe (42) started working on the farm at the beginning of December 1991.

Their daughter, Helena Smit (40) lived in Kimberley with her husband and two daughters, Michelle (11) and Elizabeth (12). On Sunday, 22 December 1991, the Engelbrechts went to fetch their daughter and grandchildren for a holiday on the farm. While they were away Mahakoe broke into the house through a window. He armed himself with Engelbrecht’s .22 rifle. When the Engelbrechts returned with their daughter and grandchildren, they noticed that someone had broken in.

When they entered the bedroom they were confronted by Mahakoe. Mahakoe shot dead the Engelbrecht couple and ordered Helena Smit and her daughter to climb into the wardrobe. When they could not all fit into the wardrobe he reloaded the rifle and shot dead Helena Smit. He reloaded again and shot at the two girls in the wardrobe, grazing the head of Elizabeth and killing the younger sister standing behind her. Both fell out of the wardrobe and he hit Elizabeth over the head with the rifle butt. He left her for dead. He put clothing and other valuables into two suitcases, loaded it into the Engelbrecht’s motorcar and left for Bloemfontein. He left the rifle behind. Elizabeth regained consciousness after he had gone and ran to the neighbouring farm to get help. She was taken to hospital.

The vehicle was traced in Bloemfontein that Sunday evening. The car had been damaged and the number plates removed. Most of the stolen items were also recovered and Mahakoe was arrested. He was tried in the Orange Free State Supreme Court on 21 April 1992 and convicted some months later on four counts of murder, one of attempted murder and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances. He demanded to be tried by a black judge. He was sentenced to death for the murders, and to 12 years and 9 years imprisonment for the attempted murder and robbery respectively. He later received amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

In a confession to a magistrate Mahakoe said that he killed the deceased because the farmer liked calling people ‘the k word’. When he was brought before court on 27 December 1991 he said the following: ‘I am guilty. I killed apartheid. I wanted to cut of the hand of apartheid. Unfortunately I only chopped of the fingers. On that day I wanted to shoot dead between 20 and 50 people, but I did not succeed.’ He said he also wanted to kill Elizabeth.

Comments:

- This was one of the most gruesome cases that the Committee has come across.

- The motive given by the accused for killing the farmer and his family was that the farmer had called people ‘the k word’ and also that he wanted to kill apartheid. At the same time he also shot a mother and two young daughters that he had never seen before, killing two of them. Again, in spite of the political motive, the accused stole a vehicle and a large quantity of goods.

- The accused demanded to be tried by a black judge.

- He later received amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

- He was a new employee on the farm, indicating the need for new employees to be properly screened."

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Final-Report-Com...
• https://archive.is/QOPjC
• https://archive.is/KaTTx