Staff Reporter
A 17-year-old boy has been sentenced to an effective 25 years’ direct imprisonment for the rape, murder and aggravated robbery of 79-year-old Little Karoo farm owner Valerie Enziar.
The Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town imposed the sentence after the teenager entered into a plea and sentencing agreement over the attack at Doring Kloof Farm on 14 July 2025.
The child cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the crime.
The court sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment for rape, 25 years for murder and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The rape and robbery sentences will run concurrently with the murder sentence.
The court also declared the teenager unfit to possess a firearm under Section 103 of the Firearms Control Act.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the accused admitted in his plea explanation that he targeted Enziar because he knew she lived alone on her farm.
The NPA said he unlawfully entered the property, attacked her, raped her while she was incapacitated, murdered her using a metal chain, and stole items from the farmhouse, including a laptop, cellphone, purse, and handbag.
The boy transported stolen items from the farm, used Enziar’s bank card to make a small purchase, and distributed some of the stolen property to others.
After his arrest, the teenager led police to recover the items at several locations.
Arguing in aggravation of sentence, Advocate Rene Uys emphasised Enziar’s vulnerability as an elderly woman living alone in a rural farming area. The court was told the accused had acted with calculation and direct intent, showing “a blatant disregard for human life and the rule of law”.
The court also considered the boy’s prior interactions with the criminal justice system, including allegations of theft, animal cruelty and other violent conduct.
It was placed on record that he had previously been assessed for criminal capacity and had been the subject of community concern over repeated offending and intimidation of vulnerable residents.
The court found that, despite his age, the seriousness and brutality of the offences and the circumstances in which they were committed justified a lengthy custodial sentence.
Western Cape Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Adrian Mopp welcomed the sentence, saying it reflected the NPA’s stance against violent crime, particularly crimes targeting women and vulnerable people.
“This sentence affirms the justice system’s resolve to hold perpetrators of heinous crimes accountable. We hope it brings some measure of closure to the family of the deceased and the affected community,” Mopp said.
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