A Western Cape High Court judge this week highlighted national femicide statistics before jailing a murderer who had torched the body of a woman after she was murdered. 

This week, High Court Judge Judith Cloete jailed the woman killer and repeat criminal offender, Eldridge Africa, for 24 years. He was one of two accused.

The co-accused, Duranth Prince, was found guilty of obstructing the administration of justice and was released from custody after being handed a non-custodial sentence by the Western Cape High Court.

Preceding judgment, Judge Cloete said sentencing is one of the most difficult tasks faced by a court. 

“The statistics released by the South African Police Service in respect of femicide and other gender-based violence for the period January to March 2025 alone – and these are only the cases that are reported to it – reflect the murders of 969 women, over 11,000 rapes, and nearly 15,000 assaults.

“In S v Robertson, the court, dealing with femicide, stated as follows: ‘Perhaps the most appropriate expression of femicide, as gleaned from the authors, can be summarised as follows: Femicide is the manifestation of a man’s need to communicate his superiority and dominance over women and such acts are typically rooted in sexism, sadistic pleasure, superiority, a sense of ownership, and a flagrant disrespect for women as a group’,” an excerpt of the judgment read.

According to details heard during the trial, Africa and Prince transported the body of the woman to an open field, dumping it there, and returning the following day to set it alight, when they were spotted and fled the scene.

Judge Cloete said very little was placed before the court about the victim, adding that the woman’s life was snuffed out without a second thought.

“All this court knows is that she was 28 years old at the time of her murder and that she had a child. That does not mean that she was worthless and deserving of the treatment she received… The deceased must have suffered a terrifying death, and her body was treated as garbage.” 

Judge Cloete further said: “Much is said in this country about our constitutional rights, and correctly so, but not enough seems to be said about our concomitant individual and collective responsibility to move towards a society that is in harmony with the very purpose that our hard-fought-for Constitution is designed to achieve. 

“In saying this, I fully acknowledge poverty, deprivation, and other social evils, many of which are attributable to the ravages of the apartheid system. However, hundreds of thousands of people who suffered at its hands have nonetheless been able to overcome these very serious obstacles.”

Judge Cloete said Africa, who is the father of a special needs son, squandered his opportunities to turn his life around, having multiple convictions over eight years. 

“Having regard to his nine previous convictions over a period of eight years, and the sentences that were imposed, it is fair to say that Accused no 1 (Africa) was given every opportunity to turn his life around and get past his drug addiction. He did not take a single one of those opportunities, but instead escalated to also dealing in drugs and participating in the brutal and callous murder of the deceased and the unsuccessful attempt to conceal her body thereafter.”

Prince was immediately released from custody after being incarcerated for seven years while on trial. 

He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, which was wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of the offence of defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, or any attempt to do so, committed during the period of suspension.

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

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