Brendin Horner civil rights

[File] Brendin Horner.
Photo: Facebook/ Brendin Horner

Brendin Horner: State acquits two men accused of farm manager murder

Judge President Cagney Musi acquitted the men accused of murdering Brendin Horner, 21, in 2020. The state conceded that it had no evidence to support a murder case against the pair.

Brendin Horner civil rights

[File] Brendin Horner.
Photo: Facebook/ Brendin Horner

The two men who were accused of murdering farm manager Brendin Horner, 21, in October 2020, were acquitted of murder and robbery by the Bethlehem High Court on Friday, 19 November.

 This comes after the state conceded that it had no murder case against Sekola Matlaletsa and Sekwetje Mahlamba on Thursday.

BRENDIN HORNER MURDER ACCUSED ACQUITTED

Judge President Cagney Musi acquitted Matlaletsa and Mahlamba on Friday and said the state’s decision to concede that it has no case in respect of murder was wise.

The state, however, maintains that it has a viable case of stock theft against the pair – they are accused of stealing two sheep seven months before Horner’s death.

Brendin Horner was strangled to death and stabbed multiple times on a farm in Paul Roux in 2020. His body was found tied to a pole near the house where he lived with his girlfriend.

The DNA evidence from the murder scene and the deceased’s bakkie excluded Matlaletsa and Mahlamba. The state’s key witness also withdrew his statement and accused the police of intimidating him and twisting his words.

It has been an uphill battle for the state since then and they finally conceded defeat on Thursday.

What’s more, Judge President Musi said the state’s stock theft case is also filled with “inconsistencies, improbabilities and sometimes plain lies,” according to EWN.

He added that it was interesting that the same witnesses in the murder charge are the same people who allegedly saw Matlaletsa and Mahlamba steal the sheep.