The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has welcomed the seven-year sentence handed down by the KaNyamazane Magistrate’s Court to a police sergeant attached to the VIP Protection and Security Services in Mbombela.

Sergeant Martin Twala (32) was sentenced in the KaNyamazane Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, November 19, after being convicted of attempted murder and the negligent discharge of a firearm.

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The court imposed a five-year sentence for attempted murder with a further two years for the negligent discharge of a firearm and declared him unfit to possess a firearm. He will effectively serve five years as the sentences will run concurrently.

According to IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping, the accused attempted to kill Ngoako Mbokane on January 11, 2020. “He discharged his firearm towards a group of people, injuring one man, while driving along the main road in KaNyamazane. The bullet hit the victim in the stomach, injuring him severely,” she said.

Suping added that the accused was intoxicated at the time and said, “He instructed the injured victim and his friends not to open a case before fleeing the scene.”