MBOMBELA – A man known to have attacked farmers in Mpumalanga, was sentenced to 45 years in prison by the Nelspruit Regional Court on Monday.
Mr Xolane Letsoala (27) of Ngodwana faced nine charges, including armed robbery, two of attempted murder, theft, and housebreaking. His co-accused, Mr Freddy Nkosi (27) also faced one charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
They were arrested in November 2010 and pleaded not guilty on all charges.
The magistrate Mr Andre Geldenhuys sentenced Letsoalo to 15 years on three counts of housebreaking and theft, 10 years on two counts of attempted murder, 10 years on two counts of armed robbery, two years on theft out of a motor vehicle and eight years on possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. He would serve the sentences consecutively.
Geldenhuys sentenced Nkosi to eight years, and said he was lucky he was not charged for the other offences. According to Geldenhuys the men had shown no remorse during trial, and they had used firearms. A day after he committed the first robbery and stole a gun, he went on to use the same weapon to commit another robbery.
Letsoalo could easily have killed some of his victims.
He fired shots at two women on a farm and injured one of them, using her own gun and could have killed her.
