Axe murderer Henri van Breda quietly relocated to Gauteng facility after prison attack

Triple axe murderer Henri van Breda has been relocated from Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl to Leeuwkop prison in Gauteng. He was transferred in January following an attack in prison, allegedly by a member of a Number gang.

Van Breda is serving a life sentence after his conviction in May 2018 for the murders of his father Martin, mother Teresa and brother Rudi. His sister Marli survived the axe attack in January 2015 at De Zalze Estate, Stellenbosch. Van Breda hacked the three members of his family to death. 

He was handed three life sentences for the three murders, 15 years for attempted murder and one year for obstructing the course of justice.

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An inquiry into Van Breda’s whereabouts followed an anonymous tip to Daily Maverick: 

“We heard from someone whose relative is incarcerated at Drakenstein Correctional Centre that Van Breda has been moved to some other location after his skull was split open with a padlock by a member of one of the Numbers gangs.”

We took up the matter with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (Jics), the watchdog body looking at the interest of inmates and scrutinising allegations against warders.

On Wednesday, the DCS spokesperson, Sechaba Mphahlele, replied: “In terms of our records, offender Henri van Breda submitted a request in September 2021 to be moved to one of the correctional facilities in Gauteng to be near to his family. The request was approved and the offender moved in January 2022.

“However, records also indicate that an assault involving Van Breda did take place in October 2021. His request to be moved was prior to this incident and, therefore, that he was moved due to the assault incident is untrue. We can confirm that Van Breda is continuing serving his sentence in Gauteng and he is in good condition.”

Mphahlele failed to shed light on allegations that the attack on Van Breda was ordered by a prison gang member.

Drakenstein Correctional Centre on 9 December 2013. (Photo: Wikipedia)

• Of the 252 inmate-on-inmate assaults, three were recorded at Drakenstein. The inmates had been transferred from the Worcester Correctional Centre, where they were involved in gang-related incidents.


• Of the 140 assaults by officials on inmates, six were recorded at Drakenstein.


• Of the 18 reported cases of sexual assaults in prisons, two were reported at Drakenstein.