Arson attack on sugarcane fields takes centre stage at Saunders’ murder trial
A massive arson attack on multiple sugarcane farms in the north of Durban took centre stage at the trial of three people accused of the murder of elderly botanists Rodney and Rachel Saunders.
Safydeen Aslam Del Vecchio, his wife, Fatima Patel and Ahmad Jackson Mussa are accused of kidnapping, robbing and killing the elderly Cape Town couple five years ago.
The pair had been making a video documentary near Bivane Dam in Vryheid when they disappeared.
It’s alleged they were hunted down in the Ngoyi Forest and attacked, before their bodies were thrown into the Tugela River.
Some of the crimes Del Vecchio is charged with took place before the murders of the Saunders.
The State alleges the Italian is behind the 2017 torching of R2.3 million worth of sugarcane fields belonging to Tongaat Hulett.
It’s understood he had previously been granted access to one part of the farms that stretch through Tongaat, Sibaya and Umdloti.
The sugar producer did not renew the access due to complaints Del Vecchio was hunting on the properties and destroying indigenous trees.
The State on Wednesday called up a guard from Enforce Security, who testified in the Durban High Court that he followed the trail of fires through the sugarcane fields and described it as unending.
The trial heard when he got to the Sibaya area, he crossed paths with a white bakkie with Umhlanga number plates and noticed another fire from where the vehicle emerged.
The guard, who cannot named, told the court he followed the van and saw the driver throwing a white substance out of the window, causing the ground to catch fire.
The court heard after the bakkie made a U-turn and crossed paths with the guard again, he managed to get a good look at the person behind the wheel.
The trial continues.
