The Pretoria High Court handed down a hefty sentence of life imprisonment to Conwell Mongezi Chauke of Lotus Gardens for stabbing 11-year-old Khothato Welhelmina Tshabalala 66 times.

The court also added six years of direct imprisonment for kidnapping Tshabalala.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently and declared Chauke unfit to possess a firearm.

She says on December 29, 2020, Chauke called Tshabalala’s mother at work. She was a member of the same prayer group and his prayer partner.

“Chauke then began to threaten the mother because she did not agree to meet with him the previous day and [he] believed that she was taking him for a fool as he was interested in pursuing a love relationship with her,” says Mahanjana.

That afternoon, Chauke went to Mamelodi East, where Tshabalala and her mother lived, and saw her playing with her younger sister and the neighbour’s child outside their neighbour’s house.

He lured Tshabalala under the pretence that he wanted to collect his belongings from her home.

“When they got inside, Chauke stabbed the child 66 times, covered her body with linen, on top of her bed, and fled the scene. When the neighbours could not find the child, they went to look for her at her house where they found her deceased body.”

Police were called and, two days later, on December 31, Chauke handed himself over at Lyttleton Police Station. He has been in custody since.

In court, Chauke denied kidnapping Tshabalala. He pleaded guilty to the charge of murder, attributing his actions to the anger he felt towards her mother.

However, the state adduced evidence, which proved that Chauke did lure and kidnap Tshabalala.

Mahanjana says that during sentencing, Chauke’s legal representative asked the court to consider the three years he spent in prison, awaiting the finalisation of his trial, when imposing the sentence.

Though he has previous convictions for theft, he is a first-time offender of violent crimes.

In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, advocate Sipho Lalane, argued that even though Chauke pleaded guilty to the charge of murder, he did not show remorse but was rather regretful of his actions.

Furthermore, Lalane said Chauke was convicted of a serious crime that is prevalent in the country. He stabbed and killed a minor child who was defenceless, vulnerable and could not protect herself.

Lalani also handed in two victim impact statements (VIS) in which Tshabalala’s mother expressed that she has not been psychologically well since her child was killed and said Chauke took away her best friend.

In her VIS, the deceased’s sister said she is always lonely because she does not have anyone to play with as Tshabalala was also her friend.

She added that her school performance has declined after losing her sister.

When handing down the sentence, Judge Jacobus Johannes Strijdom agreed with the state that Chauke was convicted of a serious offence that violated the deceased’s constitutional right to life.

He said Chauke was merciless when stabbing the child 66 times, which shows that he is a danger to society and that it is the court’s responsibility to protect society from offenders like him.

Moreover, the interest of justice outweighs Chauke’s circumstances; therefore, the court found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence.

The NPA welcomes the sentence and hopes that it will send a strong message that it will ensure that offenders who commit such violent crimes against women and children don’t have a place in society.