Abusive boyfriend gets life for execution-style murder

“Mogale shot her while the children were still in the house. They were the first ones to see their mother in a pool of blood.”

These were the anguished words of the sister of Mpotseng ‘Moeder’ Matsose, shortly after sentencing was passed in the Potchefstroom Supreme Court last Thursday. Judge Groenewald found Khado David Mogale guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment for murdering his 40-year-old girlfriend.

The Herald of 3 April 2015 reported that the taxi driver had shot the municipal official dead in her own garage as she was leaving for work.

The court also revealed that one of her neighbours had heard the couple quarrelling and then a gunshot. After shooting Matsose, Mogale ran away.

The domestic worker and the deceased’s two children, Omphemetse (13) Amogelang (09) came running out of the house crying. Upon further investigation, the neighbour found the deceased in a sitting position in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to her head. EMRS declared her dead on the scene. The Ikageng SAPS spokesperson, Const. Kelebogile Trom testified that a post mortem had concluded that she had been shot ‘execution style’. The deceased had, therefore, either been kneeling, sitting or bending forward with her head in her hands when the accused shot her.

When sentencing Mogale, Groenewald described domestic violence as, “a sickness in society”.

“Hardly a day passes without hearing about a woman who has been raped or killed. Women and children live in constant fear of their lives. They have fundamental human rights when it comes to their bodies. Women in this country are entitled to the protection of these rights. They have a right to walk peacefully in the streets without any fear.”

Mogale remained calm throughout the court proceedings and hugged his family members after the sentencing.

Motshidisi Matsose-Ngwenya, the younger sister of the deceased, told the Herald she is both happy and sad at the judgment – happy that the suspect has been removed from the family and children’s sight, but sad that the suspect will still have the privilege of seeing his own children when they visit him.

“Our loving sister is gone, we will never see her again,” she said bitterly. Despite her mixed emotions, however, Motshidisi expressed her thanks to the police and the law for jailing the suspect. She thanked the ANC Women’s League and everyone who offered the family moral support.

“The family would also like to thank the investigating officer, Riana Keka, who has been a pillar of strength. She is a hardworking policewoman – the best – and we appreciate what she has done for us. The neighbours say Mogale was abusive towards my sister. It’s very painful that he snatched the ‘love of a mother’ from her children. They cannot sleep and they are afraid of the dark. I am taking them to a child psychologist because of the trauma they have suffered. They are now in boarding school because it’s too painful for them to be at home.

She described Mogale as a cruel, heartless man. “God will deal with him, we don’t have any power. It was God who intervened today and it is because of God that we have made it. The battle was not ours,” she said