30 YEARS BEHIND BARS FOR FATHER’S MURDER

 

Thabazimbi/ Northam – On Monday, 29 September 2025, the Thabazimbi Regional Court sentenced 32-year-old Alfred Donaldson to 30 years’ direct imprisonment for the murder of his father and the kidnapping of his mother.

The court heard that on 26 July 2023, Donaldson attacked his father, who had just returned from a night shift and was resting at their home. After forcing his mother into a room and locking her inside, Donaldson threatened to kill his father. When she escaped, she found her husband fatally stabbed multiple times. His bakkie and cellphone had also been stolen.

Swift police work led to Donaldson’s arrest in Koster shortly thereafter. The meticulous investigation by sergeant Thabiso Aubrey Seshoka of Northam Crime Investigation Services (CIS) ensured a watertight case, ultimately securing the conviction.

Donaldson was sentenced as follows: 1) Murder: 30 years’ direct imprisonment, and 2) Kidnapping: 5 years’ direct imprisonment (to run concurrently). He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Limpopo provincial police commissioner, lieutenant general Thembi Hadebe, welcomed the sentence, praising sergeant Seshoka’s outstanding investigative work.