The Maletswai Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape has postponed the case of Anelle de Bruin, who is accused of orchestrating a staged “farm attack” to kill her husband.
The court set a new hearing date for April 23 to allow for further investigations, as the prosecution cited outstanding statements, photo albums, and cellphone records.
De Bruin, 46, was arrested on January 9 and charged with conspiracy to murder. She appeared briefly in court on Wednesday and remains out on R2,000 bail under conditions that prevent her from returning to the farm, while allowing supervised visits with her children.
Her arrest followed a tip-off to the police from a middleman she had allegedly approached to hire hitmen to kill her 56-year-old husband. According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali, police investigations revealed that she had already made a down payment to the middleman and promised to pay the remainder once the murder was carried out and insurance payouts were received.
She was allegedly recorded instructing the hitmen to shoot her husband, as well as the family’s dogs and vehicle tyres, to make it appear as a farm attack. She also reportedly informed the middleman about the estimated response time of neighboring farmers to an emergency.
“It is alleged that she stood to inherit more than R50m in the event of her husband’s death,” Tyali said.