Mpumalanga man gets life in jail for killing ex, 2 girls in ‘evil plan’

Mpumalanga police are elated after a 29-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his ex-girlfriend and two young girls.

According to police, Simon Mduduzi Dlamini became violent at Grootvlei near Embalenhle in 2013 after receiving news that the abusive relationship he had subjected his 19-year-old girlfriend to, had come to an end.

“Dlamini did not accept the fact that their relationship was over but rather orchestrated an evil plan to pay revenge by wiping out her entire family. At the time, his [ex-girlfriend] was staying with her uncle at his house, together with her niece and her cousin,” police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli said in a statement on Thursday.

In October, the Mpumalanga High Court heard that Dlamini bought petrol, which he stored in a container, and waited for his ex-girlfriend’s family to go to sleep.

On that day, a neighbour’s child slept over at the home.

“Dlamini then broke into the house at night, sprinkled petrol over his ex-girlfriend as well as over the two young girls [the niece and the neighbour, aged 14 and 11] before setting them alight. He then torched the whole house and fled the scene,” Mdhluli said.

The uncle and the cousin were woken up when smoke and flames engulfed the house. An attempt to save the young girls was not successful.

Dlamini’s ex-girlfriend was taken to hospital but later succumbed to her injuries.

Police subsequently opened three cases of murder, two of attempted murder and arson. Following investigations, police arrested Dlamini in September last year in the Free State. Judge Thando Mankge handed down the following sentences:

• Count 1: murder – life imprisonment;
• Count 2: murder – life imprisonment;
• Count 3: murder – life imprisonment;
• Count 4: attempted murder – eight years’ imprisonment;
• Count 5: attempted murder – eight years’ imprisonment;
• Count 6: arson – five years’ imprisonment.

Counts four, five and six will run concurrently with the three life sentences. In addition, Dlamini was found unfit to possess a firearm.

“The leadership of the police in the province has welcomed the sentence, indicating that it will bring closure to the families of victims. They [management] also praised the hard work displayed by the team of detectives, the prosecution as well as the judiciary for working as a collaborative on this matter,” Mdhluli said.

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