Senekal murder suspect has a reputation for stock theft

One of the men accused of the murder of a Free State farm manager lived with the family of his wife on the same farm where the crime was committed.

Sekola Piet Matlaletsa, 44, who was born in Palmeitfontein farm, one of the oldest farms in the agricultural town of Paul Roux, spent several years at the farm where Brendin Horner's body was found tied to a pole two weeks ago.

In 2008, according to friends and neighbours, Matlaletsa moved to Takalatsa section of Fateng Tse Ntsho township in Paul Roux where he developed a reputation as the main suspect whenever stock theft took place at farms in the area.

Matlaletsa and Sekwetja Isaiah Mahlamba are accused of killing Horner in a heinous crime that has shaken the small farming town in eastern Free State and stoked tensions between white farmers and the black community.

Matlaletsa’s childhood friend, who asked not to be named, said the father of four spent about five years on DeRots farm  – where Horner was found dead – in the early 2000s. 

“His parents lived on Palmeitfontein farm for years and that’s where he was born and spent his childhood,” the friend said.

“I met him at DeRoots farm. That’s where I was born and where my parents worked. He moved to the farm when his parents passed on. He wasn’t working there but he lived with his wife’s family before the couple got married,” he said. Matlaletsa has never been employed, save for seasonal odd jobs at farms around Paul Roux.

“But farmers know about him and they do not trust him to work on their farms any more,” said the friend.

“He knows the farms around here because farmers used to allow us to hunt for rabbits and guinea fowl on their farms. When we moved to the township, he started being known for stealing animals at the farms,” said the friend.

Johnny Maseko, a former community policing forum chairperson at Paul Roux described Matlaletsa as someone who has had problems with the law.

“We profiled suspects in the community who were likely to commit stock theft and Sekola has always been top of that list. Sekola is always one of the first suspects to be questioned when stock is missing from a farm in the Paul Roux area,” he said.

Maseko said animals stolen from farms were sold to butcheries in surrounding areas at cut prices.

Itumeleng Letlapa, Matlaletsa’s sister-in-law, sat with his children in front of the TV on Friday, after the proceedings of Matlaletsa’s bail application in the Senekal magistrate’s court.  

Letlapa conceded that Matlaletsa had had numerous run-ins with the law.

“Whenever a farmer is missing his stock around Paul Roux, Sekola is always the first suspect. Police are always here to arrest him but he is never sentenced for any of the things he is arrested for,” she said.

During the bail application, the court heard that Matlaletsa was previously convicted on two charges of stock theft and one of buying a pig illegally. The court also heard that his co-accused – Mahlamba – was out on bail for a stock theft matter and was due back in February 2021.

Free State police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele refused to answer questions on stock theft in Paul Roux.

Mahlamba’s girlfriend,  Maleqhoa Sithole, told Sowetan that he was “wrongfully implicated” in the matter after his clothes were found with blood stains, which he said was from slaughtering a sheep in the community.

“In time, the truth will come out,” Sithole said.

She said Mahlamba had previously lived in QwaQwa and that he moved to the township eight years ago.

“He doesn’t bother anyone and he is never in trouble. He is being accused of something he did not do,” she said.

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