POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR KILLING PUB OWNER
The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Johannesburg sentenced Nocanda Brian Makhosonke (41), to 20 years imprisonment for murder, plus eight years for attempted murder and three years for assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. The court ordered that the sentence should run concurrently, and the accused was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The accused was a police officer at the time of the incident and was in a romantic relationship with Tinyiko Nkanyane. On 28 January 2023, the accused found Nkanyane at a pub in Kagiso and started assaulting her outside the pub by punching and kicking. A bouncer who worked at the pub intervened and grabbed the accused from the back to remove him from his girlfriend. Nkanyane then got into a car with friends and left the scene as the bouncer ordered the accused to leave the pub and not come back.
The accused left and after some time, returned with his service gun. He insisted that he wanted to get back into the pub, but entry was denied. He then tried to shoot the bouncer, but the bouncer ran inside the pub. The accused followed him inside and started shooting randomly in the pub full of patrons and left. He shot and wounded the bouncer and ended up killing the owner of the pub. The accused was arrested at his house on the same day of the incident.
In arguing for a harsh sentence, State Advocate Phaladi Makgoro argued that the accused should have reasonably foreseen that a person could be killed as a result of his shooting in the pub filled with patrons but proceeded to do so. He further said the accused was an officer of the law, who was trained on how and when to use his firearm but chose to disregard that, and should therefore be sentenced proportionally to the gravity of his offences.
The NPA lauds the efforts of Adv. Phaladi Makgoro and Senior Investigator Busisiwe Monguku, for ensuring that the accused is brought to book and faces the full might of the law for the crimes he committed.
