Mpumalanga court sentences man who murdered his mother

The Mpumalanga Division of the High Court today sentenced 33-year-old Bongani Thulani Matsane to life imprisonment, with an additional five years, for the murder of his 64-year-old mother, Thembi Ngwenya.

Matsane accused his mother of practising witchcraft.

NPA provincial spokesperson Monica Nyuswa says Matsane had been living with his mother in Mganduzweni, Masoyi.

“In December 2022, Matsane confronted his mother, accusing her of bewitching him, claiming his misfortunes were due to witchcraft. On the evening of December 14, 2022, after his mother sent him to buy bread from a local shop, he returned, handed her the bread, and then took a hand hoe, attacking her from behind.

“He struck her on the head, and she ran out of the house, crying for help. He chased her until she collapsed, then dragged her into her bedroom, placed her on the bed, and set the bed on fire. He later wiped bloodstains from the floor before being arrested that day,” Nyuswa explains.

Senior state advocate Thulani Msibi told the court that Matsane’s guilty plea was not a sign of genuine remorse. Msibi argued that the accused could not use his belief in witchcraft as a compelling reason for the court to deviate from the mandatory life sentence, emphasising that Matsane had killed someone he was meant to care for.

In sentencing Matsane, Judge Justice Manthata highlighted the brutality of the crime and the abuse of an elderly person as aggravating factors.

Matsane was sentenced to life for murder and five years for defeating the ends of justice. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning he will serve life. The court also declared him unfit to work with elderly persons.