Murderer sentenced to life in High Court

Moses Maseko (32) was sentenced by the Middelburg High Court on Tuesday February 1.
Maseko stood trial for robbery and the murder of a woman in a shack on February 19, 2021. Maseko also robbed a police officer of his service pistol while being taken in for questioning.

On the same day the murder was committed, the police initiated a manhunt for Maseko.
A family close to the victim’s house informed the police that the armed Maseko was hiding in their house.

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While the police were on their way to the family’s house, Maseko shot himself with the service pistol he stole earlier from the police.

Police recovered the service pistol and admitted Maseko to hospital for treatment.
Maseko was arrested charged with murder and robbery.
He was also identified by the owner of a tuck shop in Dullstroom. The tuck shop owner was held at gunpoint and robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash earlier that week.

Maseko was further charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and house robbery with the intention to steal.
On the count of murder, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
For the SAPS service pistol robbery, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Another 15 years imprisonment were added for the unlawful possession of a firearm and 12 months imprisonment for the unlawful possession of ammunition.
On the count of housebreaking with intention to steal, he was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment.
Maseko was declared unfit to possess a firearm.

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The High Court declared that all the sentences will run simultaneously with the life sentence.
The SAPS provincial commissioner in Mpumalanga, Lt Gen Semakaleng Manamela, has lauded the sterling work done by the team of investigators, the prosecution and judiciary.

“The public will sleep better knowing that the state has locked up one murderer behind bars for a very long time. We are hopeful that this sentence will encourage our communities to continue to support the efforts of fighting against crime by providing valuable information to authorities,” said Manamela.