Prosecutors push for maximum sentences for serial killer Ayanda Dayi

Ayanda Dayi was convicted on an array of charges, including four murders. The State is seeking five life sentences for Ayanda Dayi, a serial offender recently convicted of a disturbing series of violent crimes in the Wynberg Regional Court. Dayi faces multiple charges, including four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, one count of theft, as well as three counts each of illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition.

Senior State Prosecutor, Advocate Esna Erasmus, with the help of investigating officer Lieutenant Colonel Pretorius, was lauded for their conviction and for using facial recognition technology to link Dayi to the crimes. One of Dayi’s crimes that sent shockwaves throughout the country was when video footage of three men in a Sasko bread truck was shot at point-blank range while delivering bread at a spaza shop in Symphony Way in Delft on May 16, 2024. According to the provincial spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, Dayi’s spate of crimes started in Usasaza Street in Du Noon on January 24, 2024, when he and an unknown man shot and killed Eric Yaphi and Elvis Thembelani Cwethiso and robbed them of the vehicle Cwethiso was driving.

Evidence before the court revealed that police collected four casings at the crime scene. The stolen vehicle was recovered on January 31, 2024, parked in the Gushindoda informal settlement in Delft.