Picture: iStock
Two sex workers sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a 29-year-old man have suffered a setback after their appeal was dismissed.
Refilwe Mokgotlo and Julia Rihlampfu were convicted last October by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg for strangling the man with a cellphone charger cable.
In addition to the life sentence for murder, the court handed the women 15 years for robbery and six months for theft.
On 13 April 2019, Mokgotlo and Rihlampfu, traveled from Pretoria to a pub in Fourways to seek clients.
Around 03:00am, a 29-year-old man accepted their services and accompanied them to his residence in Sandton.
After purchasing food, the man engaged in consensual sex with Mokgotlo while Rihlampfu waited in another room.
An altercation, however, reportedly broke out during the encounter.
The investigating officer testified during the women’s trial that Mokgotlo strangled the man to death.
Following the murder, both women fled the residence.
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The man’s father raised the alarm after failing to reach him.
A family friend was sent to his home, where they discovered his body and alerted the police.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), video footage from the complex showed the man entering his home with two women, who were later seen leaving with his house keys.
Fingerprints lifted from the crime scene matched Mokgotlo and Rihlampfu, linking them to the murder.
A cellphone cord was found around the deceased’s neck, and bank slips were discovered on the bed.
With Mokgotlo and Rihlampfu subsequently being convicted, the pair filed applications for leave to appeal, which the state opposed.
The women argued that the court erred in concluding that the murder was premeditated and that they had sufficient opportunity to reflect and abandon their actions.
The sex workers claimed the court incorrectly found that multiple items were used during the crime rather than one.
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They also contended that the state had not established all elements of the offence.
Mokgotlo and Rihlampfu further accused the court of over-emphasising the personal circumstances of the deceased and his family.
The state maintained that the trial court had not misdirected itself and argued that the convictions and sentences were legally sound.
On Friday, 7 February, Acting Judge Willem Britz stated in his judgment that after reviewing the filed papers, hearing the legal arguments from all parties, and considering the points raised in the appeal, he found no need to address each alleged misdirection individually or in extensive detail.
Britz found that the two women failed to provide a defence against their convictions and sentences.
“They both attacked the state’s case on the basis of a bare denial of any wrongdoing,” he said.
The acting judge highlighted that, by the end of the trial, the court was presented with three differing accounts of what transpired in the deceased’s house.
“The two accused gave contradictory and mutually irreconcilable versions as to what happened.
“The state could only produce circumstantial evidence from which the court had to draw inferences,” the judgment further reads.
He concluded that, after weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the versions presented, the state’s account held greater credibility than the conflicting narratives offered by the two women
“After considering my judgments on the merits and sentences in light of the grounds of appeal raised by the applicants, I am not convinced that either of the applicants have shown a real prospect of success on appeal.
“It, therefore, stands to reason that the applications before me should be dismissed,” Britz ruled.
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