File
A Gqeberha mother has pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill her son in plea deal with the state that saw her being jailed for an effective 25 years.
Forty-nine-year-old Shayhieda Dollie, was sentenced in the High Court after confessing to the murder of her 22-year-old son Moegamat Thaafir.
He was shot to death and his body was found in Missionvale in late October.
According to her plea statement, she admitted to using prescription drugs bought from local drug posts in Gelvandale where they moved from Uitenhage following the tragic death of her husband in a car accident.
Dollie said about four years ago it became clear that Thaafir had become addicted to drugs. She said he dropped out of school and admitted to his addiction when confronted about it.
“He spent all his money on himself and drugs. Household items started disappearing and money went missing. Thaafir was stealing household items and using the proceeds as well as money he had stolen to fuel his drug use,” she said.
Dollie said her son had also gotten into trouble with the community.
She said as the years went by she realised that she had to “do something to make sure that my daughter and I are well taken care of financially”.
Dollie said in 2023 she decided to take out an insurance policy on Thaafir’s life.
“He was a heavy drug user and was constantly in trouble and I feared that he was not going to live long if he continued the way that he was. I knew that he was probably going to meet a premature end the way that many of the young men in our community unfortunately do and that he will in any case never be able to look after myself and my daughter,” she said.
Dollie went on further to detail how she had conspired with a person named Lorenzo and two others known as “Oompi and Shaun” to help her kill her son. It transpired that an amount of R80 000 was discussed and that the “killers” would come from Johannesburg.
She said at various stages she decided not to go through with the plan, while the fee rose to R300 000. Dollie said when Thaafir caused “problems” again she arranged with Shaun to have him killed.
In her statement, she said the pretext was that Thaafir would be going for a job interview and that he would be picked up.
“A vehicle duly arrived and Thaafir walked out to the vehicle. Oompie left a voice not some time later and informed me that Thaafir had been shot in Missionvale at 07.45.”
Dollie said when the police investigation began she had already “confessed” to her brother about what she had done and that she wanted to tell the whole story to the police.
“The moment that I got word that he had been killed I knew that I had made a terrible mistake. I decided to come clean and that is why I confided in my brother,” she said.
In her plea agreement, Dollie said she was “willing” to bring her co-conspirators to book.
“Society needs to be protected from such people. I acted in a selfish and stupid manner but I need to assist in protecting society from people willing to carry out murder for hire,” Dollie said.
