The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an appeal by the two men who were convicted of the murders of Ottery pensioners Rugeya and Riedwaan Addinall.
Legal teams appeared before Judge Bryan Hack on Friday, who in a brief judgement, dismissing the appeals of the couple’s gardeners, Gcinlelitha Ngcobelothe and Lwazi Ntsibantsiba, who were sentenced to a combined 117 years in jail by Hack after a lengthy trial.
The couple, both aged 82, were found strangled in their home on January 5, 2019.
Medical experts revealed that the pensioners had suffered severe bodily trauma while Rattex was shoved into the elderly woman’s mouth.
The suspects turned on each other, each claiming not to have been present during the murders.
Ngcobelothe was sentenced to life for each murder and 15 years for robbery, while Ntsibantsiba received 20 years for each of the murders and 12 years for robbery.
In his appeal, Ngcobelothe claims the judge erred by relying on the evidence of State witness Bonita Petersen, claiming she could have been influenced by neighbours.
But Hack said Petersen merely gave evidence of her observations.
“She made no attempt to implicate or even name the persons that she testified were moving on the property.
“Even if the neighbours had their suspicions on the day that the murders happened and even if they communicated this among themselves, none of the evidence of the witnesses to events on the previous day constituted (any attempt) to specifically name the culprits. The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.”
With regards to Ntsibantsiba, Hack said the appeal was a repeated denial of his involvement in the crimes and that the submission did not clearly identify the reasons for the appeal.
“In this matter, I am of the opinion that no compelling grounds of appeal have been presented.
“In my opinion, there are no prospects of an appeal succeeding,” he said, dismissing the second appeal.