JUDGE Esther Steyn sentenced Nhlanhla Hlongwa and Njabulo Majozi to life imprisonment for the murder of Kloof resident, Rodney Bradley, at the Durban High Court last Thursday.
Hlongwa (24) was sentenced to a further 10 years for attempted murder, four years for an unrelated house break-in and four years for the illegal possession of a firearm, while Majozi (25) was sentenced to an additional 15 years for robbery and 10 years for attempted murder. The sentences will run concurrently.In her judgement, Steyn described them as callous and showing no remorse or respect for human dignity and property.
Bradley was gunned down in his home in Igwababa Road in Kloof on 5 April. His fiancée, Terri Carlson was in their bedroom when she saw the men from the window and locked eyes with one of them as they approached the house. She shouted to Rodney who was on the phone with a friend at the time, locked herself in the bathroom, while Bradley armed himself with a stick. He was gunned down when he opened the door.
Carlson said she felt numb but was happy with the sentence. Both Hlongwa and Majozi pleaded not guilty, however testimony from Siyanda Majozi (Njabulo’s cousin), who turned state witness in April and is serving 25 years in prison, held strong in court. Steyn said his evidence was assertive, confident and consistent and he had no reason to falsely implicate his cousin in the crime, as Njabulo had alleged.
Njabulo claimed that Carlson had mistaken him for Siyanda because they were related and shared similar features. But Steyn said Carlson was a good witness who gave her testimony under grave circumstances and was consistent. She said Siyanda’s version of events had revealed how the men had gone to Pinetown with a firearm to commit a robbery but decided against it because of a high police presence.
“They then decided to go to a tavern and then rob a house in Kloof at 2am. It was dark and they decided to wait until sunrise,” said Steyn.
Steyn said Hlongwa could not have fired two “warning shots” at the ground as he claimed because Bradley had been shot six times. She also said Njabulo had contradicted himself in his testimony. He claimed he had told his accomplices that he was “not in the mood” to commit a crime and had argued with his accomplices at the railway line. He claimed he was fearful because he had slept with a prostitute that night and in his culture this would bring him bad luck.
It was also established that after Hlongwa fired the first two shots, Bradley fell to the ground and the gun fell from Hlongwa’s hand. Njabulo then grabbed the gun, fired several shots at Bradley, then stepped over his body and began ransacking the house.
They tried to breakdown the bathroom door, where Carlson was hiding. She moved away from the door just in time, before they fired two shots through it. When they heard the security officers outside they grabbed Bradley’s cell phone from his hand, and stole two laptops, hard drives, jewellery and foreign currency before fleeing the scene.
State attorney, Rea Mina, said the two accused held criminal records as well as previous convictions. Hlongwa was convicted for housebreaking with intention to kill twice in 2010 and in 2012, while Njabulo was convicted for culpable homicide in 2010 and given a five-year sentence, suspended for two years. He was also convicted for house robbery in November last year which he received a six-month sentence suspended for five years.
Carlson said if these men had served their full sentence in their previous convictions, then Bradley would be alive today.
