LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR MURDER AND OTHER SERIOUS OFFENCES
The High Court of South Africa; North West Division, sitting at the Klerksdorp Regional Court, sentenced Moses Thamae (45) and Chakale Lesenya (35), to life imprisonment each for murder and a further 100 years each on 6 counts of attempted murder, 3 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. They pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Their conviction emanates from an incident that took place at Tshing, near Ventersdorp, on 25 December 2020, wherein the two stormed into a house wearing face masks and in possession of firearms. They then ordered the occupants, who comprised three female siblings, their mother, a male companion and a 12-year-old daughter to one of the women, to lie down on the floor and subsequently demanded money. Two of the occupants remained seated on the couch.
The two intruders took cellphones from all the occupants and subsequently fired shorts the house, and one of the women who was seated on the couch was fatally wounded during the shooting, while the male companion was also shot but survived the ordeal. The minor escaped with a scratch, while the elderly woman was unharmed. While this incident was in progress, two of the boys who were identified to be sons of two of the women in the house, entered the yard with another male companion, and the intruders started shooting at them. They managed to escape unharmed.
Police investigations led them to the arrest of Thamae at his workplace in Germiston on 14 January 2021, while Lesenya handed himself to the police on 25 January 2021 after learning that police were looking for him. The two were denied bail and remained in custody for the duration of the trial. Thamae was identified as an ex-boyfriend of the deceased.
In aggravation of the sentence, the state prosecutor, Adv Kokeletso Phetlhu, urged the court not to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment. He argued that this incident would be a painful reminder to the family on every Christmas day, as they lost a loved one and survived death. Judge Samkelo Gura agreed with the state and remarked that the shooting of the deceased with more than 15 rounds of ammunition indicated the cruelty in which the offence was perpetrated. She further alluded to the trauma that was suffered by a minor, having to witness the gruesome killing of his mother.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, lauded the prosecutor and Sergeant Thabiso Suping from the SAPS, for their collaboration in bringing the perpetrators to book.
