15-year sentence for murder too lenient: Mother
“I was expecting the accused to serve at least 25 years behind bars. I am now aware that soon he will be out on parole. I will never see my daughter again. I will never rest until justice prevails.”. Dikeledi said she will lodge an appeal with the Director of Public Prosecutions over the sentence. This is a serious crime the accused has committed,” she concluded.
VANDERBIJLPARK. – The mother of the late Mananki Boys was distressed after the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court found her son-in-law guilty and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
The 30-year-old Lucky Alfred Zwane stood in the dock, sometimes smiling, with his head bowed, while the magistrate read out the sentence on February 21.
The court heard that Mananki was stabbed to death by her jealous boyfriend on April 25 last year in Boipatong.
He also sold the car belonging to Mananki’s mother. After the ordeal, the accused wrapped and stuffed the body under the bed until the next day. He transported it on a wheelbarrow, dumped and burned it some metres away from his home in the veld. The court heard that the accused later went to report the deceased to her family and the police as a missing person. It took the police investigating team three days before the accused confessed to killing her. Zwane willingly took the police to show them the body, which was burned beyond recognition. He finally pleaded guilty to murder, defeating the ends of justice and theft of a vehicle. He appeared in Katlehong Palm Ridge Court, Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality.
“What stressed me more, as we entered the Magistrates Court, was that I saw the accused walking down to the police waiting cells. I could see from where I was approaching the accused full of smiles as he descended from the dock. One of the police officers known to me, said Zwane has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. This was a premeditated murder.
After the sentence, the mother of the deceased, Dikeledi, went to lodge a complaint with the state senior prosecutor, Andrew Coetsee, at the Vanderbijlpark Court. She said the justice system had been unfair. She added that the court favoured criminals over victims.
“I was expecting the accused to serve at least 25 years behind bars. I am now aware that soon he will be out on parole. I will never see my daughter again. I will never rest until justice prevails.”. Dikeledi said she will lodge an appeal with the Director of Public Prosecutions over the sentence. This is a serious crime the accused has committed,” she concluded.
