Cape Town – The Pretoria High Court reportedly sentenced four men to lengthy jail terms on Monday, following the murder of their friend and his mother during a house robbery in July 2019.
Reports alleged that the accused Alex Hlumela Mashaba, 23, Silence Magata Thanysha, 25, and Koketso Malobi, 26, were sentenced to two life terms and 15 years imprisonment each, for two counts of murder, and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The fourth accused, Lethabo Gift Ntsoane, 20, was sentenced to 25 years for each of the two counts of murder and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, reports said.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, Rorisong Given Matsene and his mother Kgomotso Dorah Matsene were strangled at their home, IOL reported.
The accused allegedly covered their heads with plastic, tied them with cable ties and placed them in a bathtub full of water, said Mahanjana.
“Rorisong was friends with two of his killers, Mashaba and Ntsoane. It was put on record that Ntsoane conceived a plan to rob his friend’s house and approached the other three to assist him.
“On July 23 when Rorisang came back from school, the four came and murdered him and waited for his mother to come back home and did the same to her,” the report quoted Mahanjana as saying.
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The suspects allegedly stole a Renault Cleo belonging to Kgomotso, a plasma TV, sound system, laptop, and cell phones from the home.
According to a witness, the suspects sold the stolen appliances for R3 000 and the car for R10 000 and shared the money while the bodies were discovered three days later by the deceased’s daughter who was at university at the time of the murders, reported TimesLIVE.
“She told the court that because she could not reach her mother on the phone for a couple of days, she decided to go home. Upon arrival, she found her mother and brother dead,” the report Mahanjana as saying.
The four were arrested on August 4 and 5 in 2019 and pleaded not guilty, said Mahanjana.
She said the state prosector urged the court to impose life imprisonment as the accused showed no remorse for their actions and the judge agreed with the state.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
