An Ivory Park taxi guard was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for killing a colleague more than two years ago.
Sabelo Foreman Sithole (36) was on the run for two years before the long arm of the law caught up with him.
He was sentenced to 18 years for murder, five years for attempted murder and five years for the illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm in the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday. The sentences will run concurrently.
The station commander of Ivory Park SAPS, Brig David Mbongeni Ngcobo, has welcomed the conviction and subsequent sentencing.
Also read:
Sithole shot and killed Thobelani Bongo Mchunu in December 2016. According to Ivory Park SAPS spokesperson, Capt Bernard Matimulane, the deceased and Sithole were colleagues working as taxi guards at Ivory Park Extension Two when they got involved in an argument that ended in the murder.
Immediately after the murder, Sithole fled to KwaZulu-Natal, where he hailed from. It was only two years later that the investigating officer, Det Const Edmond Lebopo, learnt of his whereabouts.
Sithole was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal and brought to Tembisa for trial. The matter was eventually transferred to the High Court in Johannesburg.
Ngcobo said: “However long it took for Sithole to be brought to book, we are glad that his evil past has finally caught up with him and that the Mchunu family may derive comfort from this sentencing.”
Ngcobo has praised Lebopo of being a safe pair of hands when coming to the investigation of murders.
“We as the management of Ivory Park SAPS are proud of Lebopo’s track record of investigating murders,” he said.
Also follow us on:
