Son organises hit on mother

2009-10-06 08:07

Tom de Wet

Welkom - A 20-year-old man from Welkom allegedly planned to have his mother murdered by a hired assassin, but her life was spared by the man he hired.

Instead of murdering her when he went to her house on Friday, the "hitman" told her about her son's plans.

The Hawks arrested Zander Botha at the weekend after his mother, Renske Snyman, listened to a conversation between him and the "hitman".

Botha lives in Welkom and had been working for a garden service for the past three weeks. His mother helped him to get the job.

Policies worth millions of rands

It has been reported that he would be the beneficiary of policies worth millions of rands in the event of his mother's death.

Botha promised a large amount of money to the man he allegedly approached to commit the murder, as soon as the policies paid out.

The man, who is now the State's chief witness, told Snyman about the murder plot on Friday evening. While he was with her, he phoned her son and switched on the cellphone's loudspeaker.

She listened as her son gave detailed instructions regarding how she should be killed, the dogs that had to be poisoned, and how to make the attack and murder look like a robbery.

The conversation was also recorded on the cellphone.

Botha appeared briefly in Welkom Magistrate's Court on Monday. He was granted bail of R5 000.

- Volksblad