At a Durban High Court hearing last week, a judge imposed two double‑life sentences on three men accused of kidnapping, robbing and murdering a British couple in February 2018.
Rachel Saunders, 64, and her husband Rodney, 73, were abducted while they trekked through the Ngoye Forest, 150 km north of Durban, collecting native plant seeds. Just days later their bodies were discovered in the Tugela River and identified through forensic analysis.
The defendants – Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio (46), Fatima Patel (35), and Ahmad Musa (Malawi) – were found guilty of the murders, the theft of the couple’s bank cards and other belongings, and the robbery of the couple’s research equipment. The court awarded each of them a base sentence of life imprisonment, and an additional 15‑year term for aggravated robbery and four years for theft.
Del Vecchio also received a five‑year sentence for unrelated malicious damage to property, while the sentences for all three will run concurrently, ensuring that they are incarcerated for the rest of their lives.
The Saunders had dual South African and British citizenship and operated a seed‑harvesting business out of Cape Town. Their vehicle, laden with research gear, was found near the site of the kidnapping with bloodstained evidence, and investigators siphoned 734,000 rand (about £42,000/US$44,700) from their accounts shortly after the disappearance.
Patel was previously arrested in Johannesburg in 2016 during an anti‑terrorism raid but was not charged then. The authorities said she and del Vecchio had allegedly hoisted an Islamic State flag in the reserve when the couple vanished.
The four‑month investigation, involving police, the National Prosecuting Authority and forensic experts, culminated in the court’s sentencing that has brought a measure of justice for the dead couple and sent a stark warning to those who threaten scholars and tourists in South Africa.
