Man gets life for murder, 10 years for kidnapping
The acting provincial police commissioner, Maj Gen Thulani Phahla, has welcomed and applauded the hefty sentence brought against a kidnapper and murderer.
Richard Masemola (34) was slapped with life imprisonment for murder and a further 10 years for kidnapping, by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court in Middelburg last Tuesday.
“What Masemola has done is evil and must not be emulated by anyone. Genuine traditional healers have indicated that it is a myth that body parts can bring fortune to another human being. Therefore, the actions of the guilty was barbaric in nature,” said Phahla.
During court proceedings, Masemola told the court he had been hired by a certain traditional healer to kidnap a boy and was promised a lucrative payment in return. His statement was rejected by the court, and he was told he had been negligent in his dealings with his
traditional healer.
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Masemola lured a four-year-old boy by buying him snacks and sweets, then took him away without the permission of his parents on August 4, 2014.
After this, he vanished from the Ga-Makola area in Siyabuswa, where the boy had lived. His family became devastated when they could not find their child and subsequently reported the matter to the SAPS.
While the police were busy with their investigations, the news that the body of the boy had been found in the bush, stashed in a bag with some body parts missing, broke on August 6, 2014.
On August 11 that year, Masemola was traced to Enkangala, where he was arrested.
He has since been in and out of court until his sentencing on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the police requested Esser Masombuka to contact them urgently, as they believe he can be of great assistance regarding this case.
