Pretoria man sentenced to 20 years for killing son

A Pretoria father was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering his 16-year-old son.

Balise Phineas Mahlangu (58) of Soshanguve appeared at the Pretoria North regional court on Friday where sentencing was handed down following his conviction on 13 April.

Mahlangu killed his son, Nkosikhona, in January last year at the house where they stayed together.
This came after his wife took their 15-year-old daughter and left him due to domestic violence she experienced at the hands of Mahlangu.

“In the middle of the night of 28 January 2020, while Nkosikhona and Mahlangu were watching television, Mahlangu strangled his son to death,” said NPA spokesperson Lumka Mohanjana.

“When he realised that the son was dead, he poured paraffin over the house, set it alight and tried to commit suicide by hanging himself.”

Before he killed his son, he called his brother and told him he was not coping since his wife had left him.

Mohanjana said the bother called Mahlangu’s nephews who lived nearby to check on him. Upon their arrival, they saw smoke coming from the house.

“They managed to save Mahlangu but when they went back for Nkosikhona, they found him already dead,” she said.

“Mahlangu was taken to hospital and later arrested.”

Mahlangu pleaded guilty to murder, however, the court found that Mahlangu did so because of overwhelming evidence against him.

Prosecutor Jonker Marie argued that this was a case of domestic violence and that Mahlangu killed his son to spite his estranged wife and cause her pain because she wanted to divorce him.

Marie added that Nkosikhona died a painful death at the hands of the father who was supposed to love and protect him.