A MAN who brutally shot and killed two colleagues 10 years ago in cold blood after a dispute over an avocado pear, faced justice at eSikhawini Regional Court on Friday.
Bhekizitha Goqo was sentenced to 10 years on each count-which will run concurrently.
Goqo was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, after he shot dead his brother-in-law Sipho Dan Makhathini (33) and his nephew Khulekani Sibisi (29) at eNsingweni agricultural camp in March 2003.
During the lengthy trial, witnesses revealed that a quarrel between the deceased and Goqo started when Makhathini gave an avocado to unknown villagers who did not live in the camp.
‘Goqo was very furious after Makhathini’s good deed, shouting that the avo’s did not belong to outsiders but to staff only.
‘He then chopped the tree down to it’s root. It was not even his tree, but it belonged to another employee Mister Khumalo,’
‘When both deceased asked him about what he had done to the tree, he rushed to his room and came back with a gun and shot them both,’ said one witness.
Makhathini suffered a head wound while Sibisi was shot on his hip and stomach.
A decade after the two land workers were viciously killed, their relieved family members welcomed the sentencing, saying that the spirits of their loved ones will finally be at peace.
‘We are happy that they was sentenced even though we feel he deserved more.
‘Finally their souls will be in peace, knowing their killer was punished,’ said one family member.
Killing innocent people because of avocado,this doesn’t make sense at all.He deserves more than that,even life imprisonment was ok for him because he killed for no reason.
Quick question. Why has it taken 10 YEARS to sentence this man!?