Widow of a murdered South African farmer is accused of forging will


Widow of a South African farmer who was shot dead at his home is ‘accused of forging his will to benefit from his wine estate’

  • Stefan Smit was killed by masked gunmen at his Stellenbosch home last June
  • Reports say his wife Zurenha is accused of ‘fabricating’ his will to gain from farm
  • The farmer’s daughter has reportedly described her as a ‘person of interest’

The widow of a South African farmer who was murdered last year has been accused of forging his will to benefit from his winery, reports say. 

Stefan Smit, 62, was shot dead by masked gunmen at his home in Stellenbosch last June.

His wife Zurenha survived the attack and family members claim she ‘fabricated’ her husband’s will to make herself the beneficiary of his 300-year-old Louiesenhof wine estate. 

According to The Times, Mr Smit’s daughter Martine has filed court papers describing her stepmother Zurenha as a ‘person of interest’ to police. 

However, it is not suggested that 54-year-old Zurenha was involved in her husband’s death.   

Murder victim: Stefan Smit (pictured), 62, was shot dead by masked gunmen at his home in Stellenbosch in the heart of South Africa’s wine country last June

Mr Smit’s amended will was reportedly found inside a copy of the Bible at his home in the heart of South Africa’s wine country. 

The document purports to supersede an earlier will, and makes Zurenha the beneficiary of the wine estate as well as other cash investments. 

The farmer’s daughter Martine has reportedly claimed in court documents that the will was unusual because her father’s advisers had not been consulted about it. South African media has also reported her claims. 

Martine Smit, 24, says that insurers have not yet paid out on Mr Smit’s life insurance policy because police are still investigating his death. 

Allegations: Stefan Smit's wife Zurenha (pictured) is accused of forging her husband's will

Allegations: Stefan Smit’s wife Zurenha (pictured) is accused of forging her husband’s will 

She claims that an earlier will, dated December 2018 and found in Mr Smit’s safe, is his genuine testament. 

The amended will found in the Bible was a ‘fraud, not signed by my father’, she reportedly claims, citing evidence from a police laboratory report.  

One of her siblings supports her claim, as do Mr Smit’s former financial advisers, it is reported. 

Zurenha has not yet made any public comment on the allegations. 

Before his death, Mr Smit’s farm had been targeted by ‘settlers’ who put up more than a hundred shacks at the back of his estate.   

However, there have been no arrests in the murder investigation and the motive for Mr Smit’s killing remains unclear. 

He was killed when four men entered his vineyard through an unlocked back door and shot him dead. His wife and a family friend survived. 

Police said at the time that they did not yet know whether Mr Smit’s death was connected to the land dispute or whether he was killed in a random attack. 

The Louiesenhof wine estate was part of a farm called Koopmanskloof which had belonged to the family since 1896 and been in operation since at least 1701.    

In dispute: Family members claim Mr Smit’s wife ‘fabricated’ her husband’s will to make herself the beneficiary of his 300-year-old Louiesenhof wine estate (pictured)

Violence against white farmers is a highly sensitive subject in South Africa. 

Lobby groups for white farmers accuse the ruling African National Congress of failing to do enough to stop attacks on farms.  

Killings of farmers have been taking place for more than 20 years, although experts say that farms are sometimes targeted because of their remote location and that white landowners are not necessarily singled out.  

The ANC is committed to redistributing land to South Africa’ black majority to correct the injustices of apartheid. 

Critics condemn the policy as ‘land grabs’, and proposals to take control of white-owned land without compensation have added to the controversy. 

Donald Trump waded into the row in 2017 when he declared that his administration would be looking into the ‘large-scale killing of farmers’. 

South Africa’s government said at the time that Trump’s intervention ‘only seeks to divide our nation and remind us of our colonial past’.