Life sentences for arsonists
"Four men and two women were burned beyond recognition after the attack on the Segweka bus. The area was a pick-up point and the bus was collecting Modikwa Platinum mineworkers. The men met and agreed to burn the bus," said Malabi-Dzhangi.
BURGERSFORT – The remaining three men guilty of the burning of a Modikwa Platinum Mine bus in 2018 were handed their sentences on Wednesday June 30 in the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane.
The attack on April 2, 2018, led to the death of six Modikwa Platinum mineworkers in Driekop Village outside Burgersfort.
The three guilty, Sipho Khumalo (29), Philemon Makwana (34) and Thabo Mokgala (28), were each sentenced to life imprisonment for each count of murder, as well as an additional 10 years for 47 counts of attempted murder and five years for the count of malicious property damage.
The court ordered that the counts of attempted murder and malicious property damage run concurrently with the life imprisonment for the counts of murder.
A fourth accused, Kgaugelo Moime (32), had pleaded guilty to all counts at the beginning of the trial on
September 30, 2019.
Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the spokesperson for the Limpopo National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said Moime had implicated the other accused in 2019.
Moime was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for each count of murder and 10 years for each count of attempted murder.
“Four men and two women were burned beyond recognition after the attack on the Segweka bus. The area was a pick-up point and the bus was collecting Modikwa Platinum mineworkers. The men met and agreed to burn the bus,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
According to Malabi-Dzhangi, the four got onto the bus. Khumalo poured out the petrol and Makwana set the bus alight. They then jumped out, leaving it behind, engulfed in flames. The police arrived to find the bus already burned out with the six victims inside. Other passengers had managed to escaped through the windows with burn wounds.
