Hefty sentence meted out to Shongwe for husband’s murder
The three men implicated in the killing have not been found or identified.
MBOMBELA – Simangele Edith Shongwe was sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional 28 years for killing her husband Vusi Mona, in the Mpumalanga High Court yesterday.
Mona was the principal at Zwelisha Primary School and was murdered on Valentine’s Day in 2017.
The court found Shongwe guilty on six charges, murder, housebreaking with intent to commit crime, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, illegal possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
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On the day the murder was committed, Mona and her husband were surprised by three unidentified men at their KaNyamazane home.
According to the director of Public Prosecutions Mpumalanga regional spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, the men forced a bound Mona into a vehicle and drove to Pienaar.
“His lifeless body was discovered the following morning with gunshot wounds. His legs and feet were tied with shoes laces. After the gruesome discovery, investigations ensued and Shongwe was arrested,” she said.
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Throughout the course of the trial, evidence was submitted by a number of eyewitnesses that revealed Shongwe to be at the centre of her husband’s murder.
“Video footage showed how the premises were accessed and that Shongwe seemed unshaken after the crime was committed.
“An eyewitness told the court that she saw people with Shongwe taking money from Mona’s bag on the day of the incident,” she said.
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“The three men were never found or identified,” she added.
State prosecutor, Ntsika Mpolweni, said the fact that Mona was unarmed and helpless mitigated that a prescribed minimum sentence be handed down to deter would be offenders.
During sentencing, Judge Brian Mashile concurred with the prosecutor that a hefty sentence be imposed on Shongwe.
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He sentenced her to five years for housebreaking with intent to commit crime, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, two years for kidnapping, life imprisonment for murder, five years for illegal possession of firearm and one year for unlawful possession of ammunition.
The sentences are to run concurrently and Shongwe was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
