‘Black widow’ in court
Zurenah Smit in Stellenbosch Magistrates court. Picture: Henk Kruger
In a shocking twist, it has been revealed that the third suspect charged with the murder of wine farmer Stefan Smit in 2019 is his Muslim wife.
Zurenah Smit, 54, appeared in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Inside the courtroom, Zurenah could be seen dressed in a black blazer, pants and shirt, a black doekie and a blue surgical mask, sitting in the dock reading a Qur’an.
She has been charged with murder, house robbery, the illegal possession of a firearm, the illegal possession of ammunition, and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Zurenah is one of three people accused of the Stefan’s murder.
On Friday, two suspects, aged 50 and 56, appeared in the same court on the same charges.
Karel Sait and Steven Damon were nabbed during a search operation in Bellville South, Milnerton and Wynberg last week.
Police had searched for the third suspect, who turned out to be Zurenah, but she had managed to evade arrest.
On Monday, she handed herself over to police.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Eric Ntabazalila said the three suspects are due in court today for bail their application.
Smit, 62, was shot and killed in front of his wife and a family friend visiting from Switzerland, on his Louiesenhof farm, on June 2 last year, when armed masked intruders entered their home through an unlocked door.
Smit was shot multiple times in the head and body.
According to reports, Zurenah married Smit in 2005.
It is alleged that the two other accused in the matter were known to Smit, one being their former bodyguard and the other was the bodyguard’s brother-in-law.
They were employed by the family in 2018, when safety concerns arose after a land invasion took place on Watergang.
Watergang is situated next to Louiesenhof and is owned by Smit’s family trust.
Louisenhof was the target of a land invasion that made international headlines in August 2018, when hundreds of residents of nearby Kayamandi and surrounds started erecting shacks on the property.
It is believed Stefan was contemplating emigrating at the time of his death.
Zurenah reportedly became a person of interest in the murder after she was cut out of Smit’s will – which was altered during 2018, when R200 000 was stolen from his safe.
African News Agency (ANA)