The 2018 murder of renowned botanists Rodney and Rachel Saunders has culminated with the conviction of three accused by the Durban high court.
The Cape Town-based British couple had completed a shoot with the BBC on plants indigenous to the Drakensberg region before heading to the Bivane Dam, near Vryheid, on February 8 2018. They were last seen near the Ngoye Forest, where they were kidnapped.
Less than two weeks later, Sayefudeen Aslam Del Vecchio and his wife Fatima Bibi Patel, who lived near the forest, were arrested.
They were convicted this week with their co-accused, Malawian boarder Mussa Ahmed Jackson, on charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, theft and two counts of murder. Del Vecchio was additionally convicted of malicious injury to property.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, NPA spokesperson, said the botanists were travelling in a vehicle carrying their research equipment and camping gear when they were attacked.
Their banking accounts were used for numerous transactions and cash withdrawals totalling more than R700,000.
Their bodies were discovered a week later on the banks of the Tugela River.
In relation to the malicious injury to property conviction, the court found that in September 2017 Del Vecchio set fire to three farms belonging to Tongaat Hulett in the area between Sibaya Casino and Umdloti.
This followed the company’s refusal to permit him to enter their farms. The fire caused extensive damage to sugarcane crops, resulting in estimated losses of about R2.3m.
The case has been postponed to June 19 for sentencing proceedings. All three accused remain in custody, Ramkisson-Kara said.
TimesLIVE
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