MAN SENTENCED FOR KILLING AN OLDER MAN WHO POINTED HIM OUT TO THE POLICE
The Lusikisiki Regional Court sentenced Luvo Nqetho (24) to eighteen years imprisonment after convicting him for the murder of 61-year-old Sipho Damane, who had pointed him out to police investigators who were looking for him.
At about midday on 25 July 2022, Damane was walking with his friend when two detectives stopped them and asked if they knew a person called Luvo Nqetho, who was a person of interest in a case they were investigating. The deceased showed the two detectives Luvo Nqetho, who was sitting in his motor vehicle not far from where they were standing. The two detectives then approached the vehicle they were shown by the deceased and asked the person who was sitting in the driver’s seat if he knew a person called Luvo Nqetho. He, however, misled the two detectives, told them that he was the brother of the person they were looking for and accompanied them to a homestead he claimed they lived in.
Nqetho later returned to Damane and his friend, pulled his firearm, and asked them why they pointed him out when the two detectives enquired. He then shot Damane nine times, instantly killing him, and told his friend that the reason he did not shoot him was that he respected him. He fled the scene and was only arrested in the neighbouring town of Flagstaff on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm, after almost two months of being on the run from the police. The state successfully opposed his release on bail.
Four days before the start of the trial, the key eye state witness, the deceased’s friend, Khayalethu Dulaze, was gunned down at his home by unknown gunmen. Nqetho pleaded not guilty and reserved the basis of his defence. Acting Regional Court Prosecutor Siyabonga Macebo led evidence of two detectives and brought an application in terms of section 3 (1) (c) of the Law Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988 to admit the late Khayalethu Dulaze’s statement. Despite the defence’s opposition, the court admitted the statement and held that the interest of justice demands the admission of the written hearsay evidence of the deceased. The court concluded that the state had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and consequently found the Nqetho guilty. Prosecutor Macebo argued that due to the brutality, cruelty and total disregard of law enforcement demonstrated by the Nqetho, the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years was not enough, and the court agreed and sentenced him to undergo 18 years.
Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Barry Madolo, commended the prosecutor, and investigating officers for successfully prosecuting the case under trying circumstances where the key witness was suspiciously murdered most probably to thwart the trial.
