Two Durban workers and an accomplice have been sentenced to life in prison for bludgeoning an employer who refurbished old houses to sell.

The Durban high court has sentenced Robert Chisi, 27, Lehlohonolo Motlomelo, 33, and Thabo Michael Lebofa, 28, to life and 20 years' imprisonment for murdering and robbing Leighton Frank Agg near Hillcrest in September 2020.

Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said: “The deceased lived alone in a property he was having refurbished with the intention to sell at some stage. 

“He and his father, Frank Agg, were in business together. They refurbished old houses and then sold them. 

“Chisi and Motlomelo worked there, chipping the building's walls which were to be plastered. At some point, Leighton informed them he would be engaging the services of professional plasterers.”

Ramkisson-Kara said the two were angered by the decision “as they believed the job was theirs”.  

“They hatched a plan to rob and murder him, recruiting Lebofa, who was a friend of Motlomelo. They even created a WhatsApp group called ‘Hustlers’ where they communicated with each other. 

“On the day of the incident they attacked Agg in his garage and tortured him to reveal the pin codes to his bank accounts.”

Agg was strangled with a cord before he was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.

“They stole his cellphones, laptop and wallet with his cards. Lebofa drove Agg’s bakkie, with the body in it, to the Greytown area where it was dumped in a river.

“They abandoned the vehicle at the Market Road offramp near Pietermaritzburg after stripping off the registration plates and licence disc.

“The men then transferred money from Agg’s bank account, made withdrawals and went on a shopping spree using his bank card.”

Agg’s body was later recovered by police.

“When questioned Chisi revealed his involvement in the crime,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

His father hired a private investigator who traced the other two men using cellphone tracking data.

In court senior state advocate Nadira Moosa led the evidence of Chisi’s statement together with cellphone data and evidence of financial transactions reflected on Agg’s bank statement. 

Moosa successfully argued for the court to increase the sentence for the robbery charges from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment to 20 years. 

The state also submitted a victim impact statement compiled by Agg's father in which he related how his son’s death had devastated their family. He said he cannot sleep and the memories of the incidents after his son’s murder will haunt him forever.

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