The body was buried in a shallow grave at the Wolfgat Nature Reserve.
Image: Independent Newspapers
An Egyptian national will be spending the next 40 years behind bars after being sentenced in the Mitchells Plain Regional Court.
Moustafaa Gamal Abdelhamid Elsharbiny was convicted on charges of kidnapping, assault and the murder of his former business partner, Elsaid Abdelgunnad Mohamed Mansour, who was also an Egyptian national.
Elsharbiny was also convicted for contravening the Immigration Act, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
According to evidence before the court, Mansour, his brother and Elsharbiny moved to South Africa from the same region in Egypt and were in business together selling meat to various shops along the coastline, including a shop in Grabouw in the Western Cape.
The sentencing was handed down in the Mitchells Plain Regional Court.
Image: Tracy-Lynn Ruiters/Independent Newspapers
Mansour’s brother left the partnership and started his own business.
Mansour then decided to leave and start his own business, which left a bitter taste in Elsharbiny’s mouth. He claimed Mansour owed him money.
Evidence led revealed Mansour’s brother attempted to act as the mediator between the two men, hosting several meetings with the lead in the weeks that led up to Mansour’s disappearance on March 30, 2023.
At the last meeting, Elsharbiny threatened Mansour in the presence of his brother. Mansour went missing on March 30, 2023. His brother travelled along his delivery route the following day, March 31, 2023, searching for any leads. His leads eventually led him to a shop in Grabouw, where it was confirmed that Mansour was assaulted by Elsharbiny in the store. He then kidnapped him by placing him inside the trunk of his vehicle and drove off.
The brother filed a missing persons report on April 2, 2023.
According to information, Elsharbiny was confronted by his brother, but he denied the allegations. Elsharbiny then left for the Eastern Cape the day after.
On April 10, 2023, Elsharbiny handed himself over to police in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.
Elsharbiny was transported back to Mitchells Plain in Cape Town to be charged. Following his arrest, Elsharbiny confessed and pointed out where he buried Mansour.
In his guilty plea, Elsharbiny confirmed he and a co-accused Hazem Ibrahim Elbasyouni Elbehiri, who is being charged separately, looked for Mansour. They kidnapped him, took his vehicle and other belongings, and transported him to Strand, where they interrogated him over the money owed. When he did not cooperate with them, they arranged for two people to kill Mansour in their presence and assisted in burying him in a shallow grave in the Wolfgat Nature Reserve in Mitchells Plain.
The men did not provide details on the two persons who assisted in the murder.
Elbehiri is expected in the same court for a trial date on February 26, 2026.
State prosecutor Stephan Olivier expressed the family’s trauma after Mansour’s death in a victim impact statement. Olivier submitted to the court that Mansour was assaulted and struck over the head, resulting in several large chop wounds to his skull, causing skull fractures.
He submitted that Mansour’s last hours were spent in agony.
Western Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, welcomed the 40-year sentence.
“The court sentenced the accused to an effective 40-year direct imprisonment and declared him unfit to possess a firearm. It ordered that the relatives of the deceased be informed of their right to make representations when placement of the accused on parole, on day parole or correctional supervision is considered or to attend any relevant meetings of the parole board. The NPA welcomes the sentence,” Ntabazalila said.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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