The Worcester Regional Court has sentenced a second accused in the murder of community worker Herman Niewoudt.  

Bongani Banda (22), who faced charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft of a motor vehicle, was handed 30 years’ direct imprisonment yesterday (June 22).  
 
The court heard that on the evening of May 5, 2023, Niewoudt met with Banda and his co-accused Banele Moya, to discuss their involvement in community work in rural areas.  

The men were travelling in Niewoudt’s bakkie on the R46 near Worcester when they stopped on the side of the road to eat and continue their discussion. 

While travelling, Banda and Moya discussed robbing Niewoudt. Both were armed with knives.  

Repeatedly stabbed 

After the vehicle stopped, they threatened Niewoudt with the knives and robbed him of R3 000 in cash and his cellphone. 

He, however, jumped from the vehicle and attempted to flee into nearby bushes.  

The accused chased him, caught him, forced him to the ground and repeatedly stabbed him. They then concealed his body in the bushes and fled in his bakkie.  

The pair attempted to sell the vehicle but were unsuccessful. They later abandoned it and went their separate ways.  

Banda returned to the vehicle the following morning, where security officers found him, arrested him and handed him over to the police. 
 
Moya was sentenced to 20 years’ direct imprisonment in March after entering into a plea and sentence agreement with the state. 

Sentencing 

Eric Ntabazalila, the spokesperson for the Western Cape NPA, said the court found that the provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997, commonly referred to as the Minimum Sentences Act, applied to both the murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances charges. 

“Although the court considered life imprisonment to be an appropriate sentence, it found that substantial and compelling circumstances justified a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence,” he explained.  
 
Ntabazalila said the compelling circumstances included the accused’s admission of guilt, expression of remorse, relatively young age and prospects of rehabilitation.  

“The court further held that a lesser sentence would still serve the purposes of punishment, including retribution and deterrence,” he added. 

Banda was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, 30 years’ direct imprisonment for murder and five years’ direct imprisonment for theft of a motor vehicle. 

“The court ordered the sentences for robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft of a motor vehicle to run concurrently with the sentence for murder, resulting in an effective sentence of 30 years’ direct imprisonment,” said Ntabazalila.  

Serious offences 

During sentencing proceedings, state prosecutor Neels Prinsloo argued that robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and theft are serious offences that warranted a severe sentence.  

The prosecutor submitted that the accused acted with extreme violence and that the offences sent shockwaves through the Worcester community and surrounding areas. 

Prinsloo argued that the crimes were premeditated, that the deceased’s money and cellular phone were never recovered, and that the victim’s family had lost a breadwinner and suffered significant trauma because of the offences.  

The prosecutor urged the court to impose an appropriate and deterrent sentence. 

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