A man was recently sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the murder of a car guard in Johannesburg in 2018.

Philani Mkhulisa (30) was sentenced in the Westgate Magistrate’s Court on October 4 and was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Mkhulisa had assaulted a 25-year-old male car guard at the corner of Rissik and Pritchard Streets on August 7, 2018. He had parked his car and had gone to buy food at Mc Donald’s. When he returned, he realised that two bags containing toiletries, a laptop, an ID book and a matric certificate were missing.

After assaulting the car guard, the accused had left the scene. Paramedics later certified the victim dead at the scene.  Mkhulisa’s vehicle was captured by CCTV cameras. The police went to his address but could not find him. He handed himself over to the police on August 10, 2018.

The conviction was the result of an investigation by Sergeant Matshepo Twala of the Johannesburg Central Detectives.  The police hope that this sentence will deter the public from taking the law into its own hands when a crime is committed.