LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR KILLING GIRLFRIEND
The De Aar Regional Court has sentenced Ettiene Kula (39) to life imprisonment for the Femicide of his girlfriend Delia Smiles (27) after being convicted on a charge of murder. On 06 December 2023 in the town of Petrusville in the Northern Cape, the accused woke up in the morning to find that his girlfriend was not home. He was informed that the victim had left early in the morning to go help her cousin with house chores. The accused informed the victim that he had a job that he had to do and that his girlfriend must go home when she was done as her children were still sleeping.
Later in the day when he arrived home from the alleged job, the accused alleges that the children told him that their mother was never home to give them food. He went back to the house where he had earlier found his girlfriend and found her drinking with friends. The accused and girlfriend got into a verbal argument which led to the accused stabbing her once in the chest and she died. The police were called, and the accused was arrested and charged with murder (Femicide).
In aggravation of the sentence the Acting Regional Court Prosecutor Ms Xolisa March argued that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment. The accused person had a previous conviction of murder where he was sentenced to 15 years of direct imprisonment, it was not the first time that he had taken a life. The accused was again found guilty of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm in 2017 and 2020, and he is a repeat offender. The state further argued that the accused is a dangerous person who should be removed from society.
In bolstering the state’s case, the Prosecutor also handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by Lettie Ndawo, the aunt of the deceased, and advanced by Mr Trott Manghana. In her statement, Lettie said that the deceased had two young kids who still needed her and that she also took care of her younger siblings. In sentencing, the court found that there exist no compelling and substantiating circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment. The accused was found guilty on a charge of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also declared the accused unfit to possess a firearm.
The NPA will continue to prosecute these matters that affect the safety and well-being of our communities and to ensure justice for victims of crime by arguing for harsher sentences for the perpetrators.
