The trial of the two suspects who are on trial for the murder of Lizette Deacon (55) and her mother, Hettie (79), has been postponed for the second time this year.
The trial was initially due to start in January this year, but was then postponed until Monday (October 16). According to Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Limpopo, the case has been postponed until 11 March next year.
Malabi-Dzhangi says the case has been postponed because the court is hearing other cases first. This while this murder case has been hanging in the air for more than three years.
Lizette and Hettie’s bodies were found on 10 September 2020 in their car next to the R37 at the Kuschke exit, outside Polokwane. They were kidnapped late in the afternoon after their townhouse in Welgelegen was broken into.
Advanced Hamid, Casper Mudau, Lazarus Mahlo and Sophie Mmako were arrested shortly after for the murders.
The case against Hamid was dropped in August last year because he could not be linked to the crime. Mahlo entered into a plea agreement with the state and was sentenced to 22 years in prison under the agreement. According to the agreement, he will testify as a state witness against the other two accused, Mmako and Mudau.
Mmako was released on bail in March last year after she appealed against the court’s initial decision to reject her bail application. Mudau is still in custody.
As reported earlier, Mahlo confirmed in his plea agreement that Mmako planned the robbery of the Deacon women in detail. Mmako was a domestic worker for Lizette and Hettie for more than 20 years. Apparently she was unhappy because they apparently don’t pay her enough.
She enlisted Mahlo – with whom she was in a relationship at the time – to help with the robbery. Mmako also enlisted one of Mmako’s tenants, Owen, a Zimbabwean whose surname is not known, and Mudau to get involved in the robbery. Owen managed to flee after the murders and is still wanted to this day.
However, the robbery went awry, costing the lives of Lizette and Hettie. Lizette was stabbed an unknown number of times and Hettie was strangled.
Read the previous reports on the case here.
