The Mitchells Plain Regional Court has sentenced Egyptian national, Moustafaa Gamal Abdelhamid Elsharbiny, to 40 years direct imprisonment after his conviction for the kidnapping, assault and murder of his brother following a business dispute.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the State led evidence that the deceased, Elsaid Abdelgunnad Mohamed Mansour, and Elsharbiny moved to South Africa from the same region in Egypt and did business together, selling meat to various shops along the coastline, including a shop in Grabouw.

The brother eventually started his own business, leaving Mansour and Elsharbiny to continue with their meat-selling business. Mansour decided to leave and start his own business venture, and it where the dispute started as Elsharbiny alleged that Mansour owed him money.

Mansour’s brother reported him missing on 30 March 2023, and on 31 March 2023, he travelled the delivery route his brother usually took, looking for people who saw him last. This led him to a shop in Grabouw, where it was confirmed that the deceased and the accused were in the shop, and the accused assaulted the deceased inside the shop, kidnapped him by placing him inside the trunk of his vehicle and drove off.

He filed a missing person report with the police on 02 April 2023. The accused handed himself to the police in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, on 10 April 2023.

“The deceased’s brother confronted the accused over this, which he denied. The accused left for the Eastern Cape the following day. Police were informed of this, and the accused handed himself over to the police in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, and was transported to Mitchells Plain to be charged. He confessed following his arrest and pointed out where the deceased was buried.” added the NPA

In his guilty plea, the accused confirmed that he and his co-accused, who is charged separately, were looking for the deceased and found him in Grabouw. They assaulted him, kidnapped him, took his vehicle and other belongings, and transported him to their store in Strand to interrogate him over the disputed monies owed.

When he did not cooperate, they arranged for two people to kill the deceased, which was done in their presence, and they assisted with burying the deceased in a shallow grave in the Wolfgat Nature Reserve, Mitchells Plain.

The accused has not provided details of the two people who assisted him and his co-accused, Hazem Ibrahim Elbasyouni Elbehiri, to commit the murder. Elbehiri’s case on the same charges will be on the roll-on 26 February 2026 for a trial date.

The court sentenced the accused to an effective 40-year direct imprisonment and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.