The South Gauteng High Court has sentenced Elvis Gobodwana and Eric Baliki to a total of eight life sentences for last year’s murder (dubbed the #RodoraMassacre) of a Rodora family.
In March 2016, a family of four, 73-year-old Monty McCormack, his son Kennith, 42, Kennith’s fiancée Marietjie Meyer, 46, and her nine-year-old daughter Kayla, were brutally murdered between Wednesday, 9 and Thursday, 10 March on a Randfontein farm in Rodora, Doornfontein.
Also read: Rodora family massacre: School’s message to the family
Kay Makhubela, Gauteng police spokesperson, confirmed to the Herald on Wednesday that meticulous investigation into the brutal murder has yielded a most welcome total of eight life sentences. The two accused, Gobodwana and Baliki were each served with four life sentences for murder and 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances. A third accused was acquitted.
“Police have a constitutional responsibility to investigate all crimes that threaten the safety and/ or security of the community, and therefore have direct influence on the conviction of criminals by the courts,” said Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, spokesperson for the Provincial Head of Corporate Communication.
Read more: Funeral fund for Rodora massacre victims
Lieutenant General Deliwe de Lange, the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner of Police, said, in welcoming the successful conviction, “Convictions of this nature will certainly take us a long way towards restoring the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system of the country.”
With the festive season fast approaching, police in Gauteng are all the more encouraged to continue with operations aimed at attempts by criminals to make communities live in constant fear.
The safety and security of the community remains a number one priority for the police in the Province.
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