Murder
Albert Zitha (28) from Windmill Park was sentenced to an effective 10 years behind bars for murder and attempted murder on October 11.
Zitha pleaded not guilty to charges of murder (count one), attempted murder (count two) and assault (count three) on February 25. He was found guilty on count one and two and not guilty of count three on October 11.
He stabbed a man to death with a knife in Windmill Park on February 28, last year. He also tried to kill another man by stabbing him with a knife.
Zitha was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for count one and 10 years’ imprisonment for count two. The court ordered the sentence of count one to run concurrently with the sentence of count two. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
- The long arm of the law caught up with a man and a woman who were sentenced at the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court on October 17.Sonzulu Nombulelo Aleta (46) from Vosloorus faced a murder charge and Jameson Koos Phiri (62) from Vosloorus was charged with murder and assault. The accused, who acted in the furtherance of a common purpose, pleaded not guilty on July 5 and were found guilty on October 13. The incident happened in Vosloorus on April 20, 2019, at a graduation party.“While my grandmother presented her speech at the graduation party, she was interrupted by uninvited guests (neighbours),” read the statement of the mother of the child.People then tried to prevent the accused from disrupting the ceremony.“My boyfriend intervened. They then tried to assault my boyfriend and were both drunk.“My grandmother was carrying my child on her back and she also tried to separate the fight. Phiri pushed my grandmother and she fell on the ground but she managed to protect the child from hitting the ground. As she tried to stand up, Aleta kicked my child in the head (in an attempt to kick the grandmother),” she added in the statement.
Chief post-mortem findings, in this case, were that the child suffered from head injuries with multiple skull fractures, subarachnoid haemorrhage and brain swelling.
The cause of death was determined to be blunt force head injury. Aleta was sentenced to life imprisonment and Phiri was sentenced to life imprisonment for count one (murder) and five years’ imprisonment for count two (assault). The sentence for count one will run concurrently with the sentence for count two.
Rape
Sivuyile Thinga (43) from Vosloorus, a police officer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on October 12 and declared unfit to possess a firearm for raping a woman.
He pleaded not guilty on September 16 and was found guilty on October 12.
Thinga raped the woman in Vosloorus on April 22, 2019. According to a biology report, DNA samples were obtained and matched.
Also Read: Court in Brief
Also Read: Court in Brief
