WESTERN CAPE - Earlier today serial killer Siyamcela Sombambela, aged 35, was sentenced in the Worcester Circuit Court to 25 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to three murder charges and entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State.

Sombambela was charged with murder after three bodies were discovered in the Pine Valley informal settlement in the Breede Valley, Boland, during October 2020.

On Saturday, 24 October 2020, after 23:00, he was seen dragging something and the community alerted police to the suspicious activity. Upon arrival, police made a gruesome discovery and found the body of 21-year-old Bernadine Frans from the Pine Valley community. Sombambela also residing in the area, was arrested.

On Sunday, 25 October 2020, police were called out to the area again after a passer-by discovered a shallow grave in an open field where a women's body was found. The body was later identified as 25-year-old Miché Pienaar. A further search in the area by police led to the discovery of another grave not far from the first one. A second body, later identified as 33-year-old Grizella Minnaar, was discovered.

Source: South African Police Service