Killer of Jeffreys Bay Good Samaritan jailed for 25 years

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the Eastern Cape High Court’s decision to sentence Riaan Ridley Umslana to 25 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Jeffreys Bay’s well-known Good Samaritan, Anna Gouws. Umslana, a 21-year-old, was also sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, eight years for unlawful possession of a firearm, and two years for unlawful possession of ammunition. The court ordered that the additional terms run concurrently with the murder sentence.

NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said on Friday that the ruling follows a plea and sentence agreement, after he admitted to killing 69-year-old Gouws. The Freedom Day murder took place on 27 April 2022, when Umslana and his accomplice, Donovan Chadon Rossouw, 21, travelled to Jeffre’s Bay from Loerie with the intention to commit robbery. Tyali said Gouws had withdrawn money earlier that day, paid her domestic worker and was returning home after dropping her off.

On her way home, an unsuspecting Gouws gave Umslana and Rossouw a lift. “Along the way, the accused flagged her down and requested a lift and food. Acting in good faith, she allowed them onto the back of her bakkie and bought them food at a local outlet,” Tyali said. “While travelling near the corner of Da Gama Street and the R102, the two confronted her.” Umslana produced the firearm and shot her in the head, fatally wounding her.