Combrink v The State

The appellant, Rudolph Jacobus Combrink, a farmer, fatally shot his employee, Benjamin Ngwenya, on a farm on 17 October 2000. Combrink encountered the deceased walking on a mealie field and, unable to get his attention despite repeatedly calling out, fired two shots from a .308 hunting rifle from his vehicle. The first shot struck the ground near the deceased; the second shot struck the deceased in the back, causing death through rupture of the aorta and cardiac tamponade. Combrink claimed the shooting was accidental and intended only as a warning. He did not immediately check on the deceased but drove away and later returned. An eyewitness, Masilela, testified that Combrink deliberately fired in the deceased’s direction. Combrink was acquitted of charges relating to obstruction of justice and unlawful possession of a firearm but was convicted of murder.

The appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed. The sentence of ten years’ imprisonment imposed by the full court was set aside and substituted with a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.

The case is significant for its reaffirmation of dolus eventualis in murder cases involving the use of firearms, especially where an accused claims to have fired warning shots. It underscores the importance of putting an accused’s version to State witnesses and confirms the strict approach to minimum sentencing under the Criminal Law Amendment Act. The judgment also illustrates the SCA’s willingness to increase a sentence on appeal where substantial and compelling circumstances were incorrectly found.