Monde Mzondi, 36, was sentenced to four life imprisonment terms for rape plus five years for sexual assault of two women who were aged 19 and 22, six years ago. Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
It is not all gloom and doom as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) confirm successful convictions of police officers caught on the wrong side of the law and that of citizens for raped, murder and other heinous crimes.
A police officer aged 40, stationed at Pretoria Railway Unit, was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment, after he was found guilty of killing his ex-wife.
According to evidence presented in court, Sergeant Tebogo Mpete was divorced from his wife, Ntombizodwa Khumalo, 38, but when he realised that she had moved on with her life, he started to threaten her boyfriend.
Ipid spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said on April 5, 2023, Mpete went to Brits hospital, where Khumalo was employed and waited for her.
“On her arrival, he followed her in the parking area and shot her several times, using his service pistol. Most of the bullets fired at Khumalo were aimed at her stomach and they hit the foetus, as she was pregnant at the time. She died at the scene and Mpete handed himself over to the Brits SAPS, and the case was taken over by IPID for investigation,” said Shuping.
Mpete remained in custody until the finalisation of the case.
“He pleaded guilty in the Pretoria High Court and he was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment. The court, however, suspended five years of the sentence, and he will effectively serve 30 years. He was further declared unfit to possess a firearm,” Shuping said.
In another incident, a police officer arrested by IPID last week for allegations of rape, was granted bail of R5 000 by Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court.
It is alleged that on August 15, 2024, a 26-year-old complainant went to the Pietermaritzburg Police Station to obtain an affidavit. She met a police officer who was dressed in full uniform and the officer offered to assist the complainant and asked her to follow him to his office.
“He allegedly asked her to wait in the office and went to fetch an affidavit. He came back, completed the affidavit and then he allegedly made advances on the complainant. She rejected his advances and the police officer allegedly locked the door, removed his service pistol, placed it on the table and allegedly raped the complainant.
“The complainant reported the incident to her family and they took her to Mountain Rise Police Station to open a case. The incident was reported to IPID and they handed over the case for investigation,” Shuping said.
The police officer appeared in court on Tuesday, facing a charge of rape and the case was postponed to October 11 for further investigations.
Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court sitting in Mtunzini sentenced three people to varied terms of imprisonment following their conviction for the murder of two minor children, aged nine and 10 years old in the Nkandla area in March 2020.
NPA KZN spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the first two accused (women) were related to the children, with one of them being the mother to the 10-year-old; and the third accused is a pastor from the area.
Both these women believed that the two children were possessed by demonic spirits, alleging that they were sucking the blood out of one of the accused’s children.
On March 24, 2020, the women invited the third accused to come over to their home and pray for the two children to drive out the demonic spirits. During the prayers, the children were assaulted with plastic pipes and a sjambok. They were also punched and burned with a two-plate stove.
Ramkisson-Kara said the assaults on the two children caused the immediate death of the nine-year-old child. Thereafter, an anonymous tip-off alerted police to what was happening, and police arrived at the scene. The accused were arrested and the 10-year-old child, who was still alive, was taken to hospital. She died two weeks later.
In the State’s case, Advocate Nathi Kunene led the evidence of eyewitness testimonies. Kunene also submitted Victim Impact Statements compiled by the family members of the deceased and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Seneliso Sibanda. The family members mentioned that their lives have been devastatingly affected following the incident. They could not believe the evil actions committed by the accused on the small children. They said that the other younger children in the house had to go for counselling following the incident.
Ramkisson-Kara said the first and third accused were sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment on each count of murder, and the court ruled that the sentences will run concurrently, resulting in the effective sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment each. The second accused was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment on each count of murder and the court ruled that the sentences would run concurrently resulting in an effective sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
In sentencing the trio, the court deviated from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment saying that the case had an “unusual factual matrix in that the accused believed that the deceased were possessed by demons and inflicted the assaults in the process of driving out the demons from the deceased”. The court found this to constitute as substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from life imprisonment.
Further, the court found that the accused held varying levels of culpability in the commission of the offence. Hence the difference in the sentences received between them.
“The NPA hopes that sentences of this nature will deter like-minded individuals,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
Again on Tuesday, the Pretoria High Court found Ngagalela Kekana, 39, from Olievenhoutbosch, guilty of the premeditated murder of his 37-year-old girlfriend, Realeboga Geigia Joels.
On October 21, 2022, Kekana went to visit the deceased at her place of residence in Olievenhoutbosch and during the visit, the couple was heard arguing by the neighbours.
When Kekana left the following morning, the deceased’s landlord together with the neighbours entered the shack and found the deceased’s lifeless body lying on the bed. The police were called to the scene and Kekana was arrested on the same day when he returned to the scene.
In court, Kekana pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him and denied committing the offence.
In his defence, he told the court that an unknown person killed his girlfriend after he left, however, State prosecutor Advocate David Molokomme adduced evidence that proved that indeed Kekana committed the offence.
“Judge Papi Masopa agreed with the State and found that the State was able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and the case was postponed to October 14, for sentence proceedings,” said NPA Pretoria spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
In another incident, a feared drug dealer was sentenced to four life terms by the Mdantsane Regional Court on Tuesday.
The court sentenced Monde Mzondi, 36, to four life imprisonment terms for rape plus five years for sexual assault of two women who were aged 19 and 22, six years ago.
The two victims, who resided in the same village of Siviwe Location near Qumrha, knew Mzondi and at some stage before the commission of the crimes, he had approached them to sell dagga on his behalf, but they refused.
On the afternoon of March 6, 2018, he lured the two women to his home under the pretext that they were fetching a bottle of brandy he had promised them earlier. Upon their arrival, he locked the door and forced the women to undress themselves completely naked.
He then took the cellphone of one of them, took their pictures and threatened to circulate them on social media. Threatening them with a knife, he shoved the women into his bedroom where he repeatedly raped each, while placing the said knife on the edge of the bed.
He raped them without using a condom, after which he forced them to wash their private parts with water that he mixed with a black powder that he told them would remove evidence of the rape.
Not discouraged by his threats, the two complainants immediately informed their families of their ordeal, even though Mzondi had vowed to harm their families if they reported him.
A case was opened with the police and the two women were promptly taken to the Mdantsane Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) for medical and psychosocial assistance, and the accused was arrested.
During trial, he pleaded not guilty, claiming that both women were his casual sexual partners that he would occasionally pay after having sex with them.
However, regional court prosecutor Phillip Phoofolo led the evidence of the two complainants and submitted medical reports and the DNA samples taken at the TCC. The court dismissed Mzondi’s defence as highly improbable.
For sentencing, the prosecutor handed the victim impact statement, prepared by the court preparation officer (CPO), which revealed that the victims had an extreme fear of Mzondi, who had taken advantage of their poor backgrounds and had also lost confidence in the criminal justice system because of the time it has taken for the case to be finalised.
Again in Eastern Cape, four men were sentenced to 36 years for theft and damage to Transnet property.
The Nxuba (formerly Cradock) Magistrate’s Court sentenced Charlie van Dyk, 43, Elandre Senekal, 29, Michelle van Straaten, 23, and Kwakhanya Bolowana, 28, to a total of 35 years’ imprisonment each for housebreaking, damaging essential infrastructure and theft that occurred at the Scalen Rail Station, Nxuba on March 15 and 29 2023.
The four broke into a Transnet facility and stole four batteries, transformers, and cables valued at R57 000, all essential for the operation of the rail network. The stolen items were identified as belonging to Transnet. The theft disrupted critical operations, causing significant delays and operational challenges for the rail network.
The crime was uncovered when Abongile Yolwa, a Transnet engineer, was alerted by the Johannesburg-based control room about a malfunction on the rail line. Upon inspection, Yolwa discovered that the facility had been broken into, with essential batteries and connecting cables missing.
She immediately reported the incident to the local police. Subsequent investigations led by Sergeant Peters of the K9 unit resulted in a breakthrough. Information was received about the suspected stolen property being offloaded at a house in Cawood Street, Nxuba, the residence of the fourth accused, Bolowana.
Upon arrival, police observed the four accused driving a Nissan bakkie but found nothing suspicious in the vehicle. A search of Bolowana’s house also yielded no evidence. However, two stolen batteries were discovered in a nearby parked vehicle, which Bolowana claimed belonged to his uncle. The batteries were later identified as part of the stolen property from Transnet.
Further investigations led the police to the residence of Van Dyk, where two additional stolen batteries were recovered.
NPA Eastern Cape spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said all four accused were subsequently arrested and charged with housebreaking with intent to steal, theft, and damaging essential infrastructure. Despite Van Dyk pleading guilty to the housebreaking charge, his co-accused maintained their innocence throughout the trial.
Prosecutor Makabongwe Seyibokwe argued for the imposition of maximum sentences, emphasising the severe impact of the crime on essential public infrastructure and the coordinated nature of the theft.
The court concurred, sentencing the accused to the prescribed maximum sentences: five years for housebreaking, 15 years for damaging essential infrastructure, and 15 years for theft. Accused two and three will serve an effective sentence of 20 years, while accused one and four will serve 30 years.
The Star
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