A hitchhiker has been found guilty of premeditated murder and robbery after he shot a 38-year-old man in the head and stoned him to death near a bridge close to the Bronkhorstspruit off-ramp in the east of Pretoria.

The man was sentenced recently for the murder of Tumisho Thobela who was travelling towards Pretoria from Emalahleni in a company car.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Pretoria spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says Thobela picked up the hikers – Gift Mbola (27), Phineas Mzimba (26), and an accomplice – along the N4 highway in September 2019. The accomplice has yet to be found.

“When they got to the bridge at the Bronkhorstspruit off-ramp, they requested [that] Thobela stop the car. Mbola then shot him in the head. When they realised that Thobela was not dead yet, they stoned him to death, threw his body into a nearby furrow and drove the car to Witbank hostel.

“Thobela’s manager received an alert from a tracking company [that the] car was at the hostel. He alerted the police, who, with the company, retrieved the car. However, when Mbola and his two accomplices saw the police, they fled.”

Mahanjana says as a police investigation unfolded, Mbola and Mzimba were arrested in Burgersfort the following day.

“Mzimba pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment before he turned state witness.

“Mbola pleaded not guilty to the charges. State prosecutor Sfiso Hlongwane then led the evidence of four witnesses, including Mzimba. When Hlongwane was to lead the evidence of the fifth witness, Mbola made admissions, admitting the offences he committed,” says Mahanjana.

Mahanjana says in aggravation, Hlongwane told the court that Mbola was a danger to society and had been convicted of a serious offence.

Hlongwane further said Mbola killed and took away the life of a person who did not fight back but complied with his demands.

Hlongwane also handed in victim impact statements, in which the sister, mother and son of the deceased expressed how the incident has emotionally, mentally and financially impacted them.

When magistrate Ruby Matlaila handed down the sentence she said Mbola did not show remorse and did not take the court into his confidence by disclosing the reasons for the murder.

Matlaila said the court found no substantive and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.

She sentenced Mbola to life imprisonment for premeditated murder and 20 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The court also ordered that the sentence should run concurrently and that Mbola be declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Mahanjana says the NPA welcomes the sentence.