Former policeman to serve 18 years for double murder
"The accused cocked a gun and faced the victims. 'Do you want to live or die?' he asked repeatedly." - Mr Foster Patrick Sambo
MBOMBELA – A former policeman of Hazyview was sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing his former girlfriend and her lover on December 29, 2012. He was also found guilty of trying to kill another community member and maliciously damaging her property. He applied for leave to appeal and failed.
Judgement was passed by the judge, Mr Peter Mabuse, against Boy Edwell Makhubela in the Gauteng High Court’s Eastern Division on Tuesday. Makhubela was sentenced to an effective imprisonment of 18 years, after it was taken into account that he served five years in prison prior to receiving bail.
Lowvelder previously reported on a testimony delivered against the accused. Mr Foster Patrick Sambo, brother of victim Ms Lindeni Sengwayo, testified that he had seen the shooting of Sengwayo and her lover, Mr Alphios Mike Magagula. On the day of the murder, the two victims had been walking in the street when Makhubela alighted from the back of a stationary vehicle and followed them on foot. Sambo said when the accused reached them, he cocked a gun and faced them. “Do you want to live or die?” he asked repeatedly. They did not answer him. Sambo testified that the accused pointed the weapon at Magagula and shot him. The accused fired a second and third bullet at Magagula before he fell to the ground and died. The accused then shot Sengwayo.
Makhubela was also accused of shooting at Ms Thembi Ntimane and Ms Shirley Mgiba after killing Sengwayo and Magagula. It was during this incident that the door of the house that they had been in was damaged. The charge of malicious damage to property stemmed from this shooting. Ntimane and Mgiba testified for the state.
Defence attorney Mr Coert Jordaan averred that the state witnesses’ versions did not add up and that their testimonies contradicted their statements on the day’s events. Dr Vella Mabunda previously testified regarding the post-mortem reports of Sengwane and Magagula. They indicate that Sengwayo died as a result of a gunshot to the heart which had caused haemorrhagic shock. Magagula’s cause of death was indicated to be multiple gunshot wounds resulting in blood loss. Another pathologist, Dr Leon Wagner, later testified to challenge Mabunda’s testimony.
When Mabuse preceded sentencing on Tuesday, he concluded the argument centred on these discrepancies: “The court must take into account that the wounds that resulted from the bullets fired upon the deceased, were what killed them.” Jordaan argued that his client was a fallible human being and asked the court to take this into consideration in mitigation of Makhubela’s sentence. “What happened, happened in the spur of the moment. We tend to act as if policemen are superhuman, but they can be fallible as well.” Makhubela appealed the judge’s verdict and sentence on Tuesday. “Your application for leave to appeal is dismissed,” Mabuse ruled. “It is not probable that another court will come to a different finding when faced with the same set of facts.”
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