A convicted murderer has been sentenced in the High Court sitting in Knysna in the Western Cape to life imprisonment for the murder of a popular businessman.

Waydon Bezuidenhout, 34, was found guilty on charges of kidnapping, and defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, and the murder of Gladman Mawande Kondlo, the owner of Wandu Tours and Stay in January 2022.

The conviction follows a strong case by State Prosecutor Advocate Lenro Badenhorst who led several witnesses including police, crime scene experts, GPS and cell phone mapping experts, and family members of the deceased.

Bezuidenhout was also the owner of Cassandra Funerals.

Evidence before the court showed that the deceased and the Bezuidenhout were friends for more than two years and stayed in the same street. Bezuidenhout had slept in the deceased’s bed and breakfast several times despite his house being near the establishment.

The victim was last seen with Bezuidenhout and three other people, including a woman entering a dark sedan on the evening of January 15, 2022. His body was discovered in the bushes on the evening of January 17, 2022.

His legs and hands were tied, and he had a cloth stuffed in his mouth and a black bag over his head.

Bezuidenhout was arrested on August 25, 2022. He pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him and elected not to disclose the basis of his defence.

His arrest followed forensic evidence, blood, which was found in the boot of an SUV that he had hired on the afternoon of January 14, 2022, to transport mourners to a funeral which Cassandra Funerals conducted on the morning of January 15, 2022, at The Crags, near Plettenberg Bay.

The vehicle and Bezuidenhout’s cell phone were also traced using a vehicle tracker and cell phone mapping. They revealed that Bezuidenhout visited the crime scene several times where the deceased’s body was later found.

After the State closed its case, Bezuidenhout filed for an order to testify in camera as he wanted take the court into his confidence and disclose information.

He stated he feared for his life and that of his family if the evidence he was to give was given in an open court. The court heard the people he would implicate were allegedly violent.

Bezuidenhout told the court he approached the local drug kingpins for money as he needed to buy a hearse for his business. He met with Alastair Galant, Vusumzi Gungu, Yonele Best, and Khaya Adonis, and it was agreed that he would become involved in their drug distribution network. Bezhuidenhout said it was made clear to him that once he was in, there was no way out.

He claimed it was known in Knysna that Gunga was the head if the network and in its prime reached the police force, prisons, and the courts.

About three to four weeks before the murder, Bezuidenhout said he, Galant, Gungu and Adonis met at Galant’s flat where he was told about plans to kill the deceased and that he was chosen to do the job because he was close to the deceased.

Gungu produced two firearms and asked him to choose his firearm of preference. He alleged that Gungu told him that he had already received payment for the killing of the deceased. He told them he did not think he would be able to do it, but he might be up to it if he was drunk.

Bezuidenhout told the court he was told that the killing had to take place before the weekend of January 14, 2022, and he accepted the job as he believed he could not reason with the group.

He claimed that Gungu later told him that a hitman from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape had been arranged to pull the hit as he did not have the heart to kill the deceased.

He also told the court that on the evening of the murder he found the group including the woman from Gqeberha in the deceased’s bed and breakfast. Bezuidenhout said the deceased pleaded with him, but the group led the deceased into a vehicle.

He was asked to open the boot of his hired SUV. They then drove to the crime scene. Bezuidenhout said he was threatened to leave and not tell anyone about the murder.

In his evidence, the accused implicated himself in the murder but did not provide reasons for the murder except to say Gungu wanted the deceased’s bed and breakfast business.

Bezuidenhout was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for kidnapping, life imprisonment for murder, and 12 months direct imprisonment for defeating or obstructing the administration of justice. The court ordered that the sentences imposed for kidnapping and defeating or obstructing the administration of justice run concurrently with the sentence of life imprisonment.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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