The four men who killed a Phoenix man in front of a group of disabled children, have been sentenced to life in prison.
|||Durban - In sentencing the four men responsible for killing a Phoenix grandfather in front of a group of disabled children to life imprisonment on Wednesday, Durban High Court Judge Sharmaine Balton said these men appeared to have been on a “reign of terror”.
“You carefully planned the attack on the deceased and your actions have probably scarred the children for life,” she said to Thobani Khwela, 25, S’thembiso Mthethwa, 31, Njabulo Mthethwa, 24, and 26-year-old Sanele Mayisela.
On Tuesday, the four were found guilty of killing Kemraj “Uncle Ash” Balgobin on January 19, 2012 in Avoca Hills while he was loading disabled children to transport them to AB Moolla Spes Nova School for the Disabled.
The men were also sentenced to 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances. After shooting Balgobin they had stolen his wallet, the bus keys, Balgobin’s firearm and Beryl Khoza, the school’s helper’s handbag and cellphone.
Khwela was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to five and three years respectively.
Both the Mthethwas were found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances for an incident in October 2011 and S’thembiso Mthethwa was found guilty of attempted murder for an incident in August 2011.
They were sentenced to 15 years for the August robbery and S’thembiso was sentenced to six years for the attempted murder.
These sentences are to run concurrently with their life sentences and are to be effective from the date of their arrest in January 2012.
Soon after being sentenced their legal counsel applied for and was granted leave to take their conviction and sentence on appeal.
Balgobin’s daughter, Veronica Panday, was in court on Wednesday and saw the four men for the first time. Speaking to the Daily News afterwards, she became emotional.
She said she was grateful to investigating officer Warrant Officer Rajen Nagesar and senior advocate Cheryl Naidu for seeing the case through and to her family and friends for their support.
The men’s legal counsel had asked the court to consider their youthfulness as a factor for rehabilitation.
The three who did not pull the trigger also wanted leniency for this.
Naidu argued this did not diminish their moral blameworthiness as they all organised and orchestrated the robbery.
“They were clearly on a reign of terror. They robbed, shot and killed the deceased. They weren’t acting like adults. They went one step further, acting like God,” she said.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
Daily News
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