MBOMBELA – The victim was visiting her sister and her sister’s life partner on August 16, 2012. They said their evening prayers and went to sleep. Ms Elinor Mathonsi was attacked by five men, tied up and suffocated. Only one of the five was caught. Mandla Mahlalela (40) will spend the rest of his days in jail after being sentenced to life imprisonment in the Eastern Circuit High Court in Mbombela on Tuesday.
Mandla Mahlalela broke into Ms Angel Mahlalela’s (no relation) home on that evening. The four occupants of the house went to bed at 21:00 after having had dinner, which they concluded with a night-time prayer. Angel Mahlalela and Mr Sam Mathebula went to their bedroom. Her son, Mr Themba Mathebula, retreated to his room and house guest, Mathonsi went to bed as well. Mathonsi was Angel Mahlalela’s sister.
Mahlalela and Sam Mathebula awoke with a start when torches were shone in their faces and their blankets were pulled from their bodies. Five figures surrounded their bed. They were ordered to lie face down whereafter the five men used her scarves to blindfold them.
Their mouths were covered and their hands were tied behind their backs. The robbers used coat hangers to tie their feet together. A firearm was pointed at Angel Mahlalela’s neck while somebody took items from her wardrobe.
They demanded money, cellphones and car keys. She told them they didn’t have money, but directed the men to the cellphones and car keys.
The couple heard their Toyota Corolla start a while later. After realising that the perpetrators had stolen the vehicle and driven off, she wriggled free and untied her partner. They went to their son’s room and discovered that his feet had been tied together with an electrical chord. After freeing him, the three made their way to Mathonsi’s room. What they encountered next was nothing short of horrific.
They found Mathonsi with her hands tied behind her back and her face down on the bed. Her skirt was stuffed into her mouth. When they removed her skirt from her mouth, they discovered that she was bleeding from her mouth and her tongue was hanging out. They tried to take her to the hospital, but couldn’t manage to do so. Themba Mathebula called the police and an ambulance arrived. Mathonsi was declared dead on the scene.
Const Vusi Moses Thobela was the investigating officer on the case. The SAPS found the stolen vehicle where the robbers had abandoned it in the veld. Some of the stolen goods were recovered from the car. Police investigations revealed that the suspects had gained entry to the house by standing on a chair and breaking a kitchen window.
This was where Mandla Mahlalela left the clue behind that led the police to him. Fingerprint investigator Const Bhembe Nyambe testified that he had lifted his fingerprints from the window. According to WO John Ngwenya, they correlated with fingerprints previously taken from the accused, who was convicted on a charge of housebreaking with the intent to steal on June 5, 2000. He was sentenced to six months in prison for this offence.
Mandla Mahlalela, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, offered a reason for the presence of his fingerprints on the window. According to him, he had visited the couple’s home prior to the incident. He said that he had gone to their house to deliver manure. According to Mandla Mahlalela, he had leant against their kitchen window with his right hand while he was waiting for them to accept the delivery. He previously testified that Themba Mathebula had informed him that his father had been drinking at a local pub, and Mandla Mahlalela went there and found him with a five-litre drink in his hand.
The judge, Ms Daisy Molefe pointed out that the defence’s arguments were riddled with inconsistencies, as the fingerprints that led to Mandla Mahlalela’s arrest were of a right hand and Sam had testified that he did not drink alcohol. “You could not even recall when you allegedly visited the victims’ home to deliver the manure,” she said.
The judge ruled that the accused’s version amounted to a fabrication.
He was found guilty of housebreaking with the intent to commit a robbery where aggravating circumstances were present and murder. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on the first count and life imprisonment on the murder charge.
