Four murderers sentenced to life behind bars
Four men found guilt of murder were sentenced to life in prison by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court, sitting in Delmas, on July 9.
Lefa Mahashole (31), Thabiso Ramabele (30), Thato Damane (27) and Tankiso Morei (50) were convicted of the murders of Lucky Mahlangu (36), Tsotang Ntjebe (44) and Bulelani Gqoboka (48). The three victims were killed in December 2016.
The court heard how a group of heavily armed men from Lesotho went on the rampage, terrorising community members at Embalenhle. They robbed defenseless victims of their personal items and also targeted business owners in the area.
Mahlangu was ambushed and killed while at his business premises on December 16, 2016. Gqoboka, a mineworker, was shot execution style inside a bus on December 20, 2016, while travelling to work during a period in which some of his colleagues were on strike.
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Ntjebe succumbed to death due the wounds he sustained after he was shot on December 22, 2016. The police opened cases regarding these incidents and a team of experts was assembled to conduct an investigation.
The suspects were traced and arrested in December 2016 and January 2017. The court heard that Damane and Morei were found in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition during their arrests.
The police managed to link all four accused to the murder of the three victims as well as the robbery incidents. The court sentenced Mahashule to two life sentences and an additional 104 years imprisonment and further sentenced him to two years imprisonment for two counts of pointing a firearm.
Ramabele was sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 45 years.
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Damane and Morei were sentenced to one life term each with an additional 31 years imprisonment. Ramabele, Damane and Morei were also each sentenced to a further ten years imprisonment for two counts of attempted murder.
They were each sentenced to a further 15 years imprisonment on four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances and four years for possession of illegal firearms. Damane and Morei were further sentenced to five years imprisonment each on the count of possession of unlicensed firearms plus one year each for unlawful possession of ammunition.
All four accused were sentenced to one year imprisonment each on three counts of unlawful possession of ammunition. The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently with the life sentences.
