POLOKWANE – The four teenagers found guilty of murdering Thorisho Themane have been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each in the Limpopo High Court: Polokwane Division.
Deputy judge president Violet Semenya handed down her judgement in the Limpopo High Court: Polokwane Division, three years after Themane’s body was found by a passerby in Flora Park on February 23, 2019.
“This sentence should send a message that violence is not the only way of resolving issues,” she said.
Read more: WATCH: Themane family hopeful for justice to prevail
Semenya said she used two varied laws in the sentencing because some of the accused were minors when the crime was committed and the others were adults.
“If the accused were not children, they were not going to get anything less than 10 years imprisonment,” she said.
The minors were trialed according to the Child Justice Act 75 of 2009.
They were sentenced as follows:
- Accused number one (18) was sentenced to three years compulsory residence at the Mavambe Childcare Centre until he reaches the age of 21 and thereafter, seven years imprisonment.
- Accused number three (18) was sentenced to two years compulsory residence at the Mavambe Childcare Centre until he reaches the age of 21 and thereafter, eight years imprisonment.
- Accused number four (19) was sentenced to two years compulsory residence at the Polokwane Secure Centre until he reaches the age of 21 and thereafter, eight years imprisonment.
- Accused number five (20) was sentenced to a year’s compulsory residence at the Polokwane Secure Centre until he reaches the age of 21 and thereafter, nine years imprisonment.
Semenya said that the centres will provide a report to the court at the end of their residence which will determine whether they are integrated back into society or if they will be moved to a correctional facility to carry out the remainder of their sentences.
Accused numbers six and seven (both 20) who were found guilty of assault, were sentenced to a R20 000 fine or five years imprisonment.
The two adults, Chuene Maleka and Alfred Mothapo, who were found guilty of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, were sentenced to three years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that they are not convicted again.
Themane’s murder grabbed national headlines in February 2019 after a video emerged on social media showing how his lifeless body was carried by the alleged minor suspects.
Eleven people were initially charged with his murder of which two of the accused are adults, while the other nine were minors at the time.
One of the minors passed away before the matter was moved to the Limpopo High Court and three of the remaining minors turned state witness.
Read the full story in this week’s Polokwane Observer.
