Sabelo Dan Cele had been slapped with a sentence of 41 years and six months imprisonment.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has substantially reduced the prison sentence of a man who was originally ordered to spend more than 40 years behind bars for multiple offences including murder.
Sabelo Dan Cele was one of five accused who stood trial in the High Court in Johannesburg.
Cele was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment under Section 51 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLAA), which prescribes a minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
He was also sentenced to 17 years for attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years for the unlawful possession of a firearm and six months for the illegal possession of ammunition.
This resulted in an effective sentence of 41 years and six months imprisonment.
Appeal
Cele initially appealed his sentence, resulting in the reduction of his attempted robbery sentence from 17 years to 15 years.
However, the overall sentence remained unchanged, prompting him to take the matter to the SCA.
Before the SCA, Cele argued that the high court committed a procedural “irregularity” by refusing to allow his legal representative to make submissions in mitigation of sentence.
ALSO READ: North West man freed after 18-year attempted-rape conviction overturned
Cele claimed this amounted to a misdirection that rendered the sentence invalid.
He further contended that the sentence was excessively harsh and that the trial court failed to properly consider his personal circumstances.
According to Cele, the high court focused too heavily on punishment and deterrence at the expense of rehabilitation.
SCA judgment
In a judgment delivered on 19 December, SCA judge Tati Makgoka, with four judges concurring, dismissed the claim of procedural unfairness.
The judge found that the high court was entitled to refuse submissions from the bar in mitigation of sentence and had informed Cele’s legal representative of this decision beforehand.
Cele himself chose not to testify in mitigation.
“There is no merit in the submission that the trial court committed an irregularity,” the judgment reads.
Makgoka said that the high court carefully considered the seriousness of the offences, the objectives of sentencing, Cele’s personal circumstances and the interests of society.
READ MORE: Appeal denied: Lesotho national fails to overturn life sentence after tavern murder
The SCA also confirmed that the high court had correctly identified substantial and compelling circumstances that justified a departure from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
“The appellant’s submission that the trial court misdirected itself, by over-emphasising the gravity of the offence and under-emphasising his personal circumstances, is unsustainable,” Makgoka said.
However, the SCA found that the high court failed to take into account the consequences of the multiple sentences imposed.
Destroy or punish?
Makgoka described the 41 years and six months imprisonment as improper, particularly given that Cele was 28 years old at the time of sentencing, was a first-time offender and had not completed high school.
These factors, the judge said, pointed to the possibility of rehabilitation.
“A sentence of such magnitude serves to destroy the individual rather than to punish him or her. It ignores the legitimate element of rehabilitation.”
Makgoka also said that the murder occurred during a failed robbery and was not premeditated, meaning it was committed with reckless intent rather than direct intent.
READ MORE: Appeal after appeal: Convicted businessman fails to overturn R4.6m theft sentence
“He had been in custody for 17 months awaiting trial. Furthermore, he voluntarily surrendered himself to the police after the murder through the intervention of his father and a senior police official, Brigadier Ndlovu.
“This conduct, while not a demonstration of remorse in itself, is a significant mitigating factor demonstrating a willingness to submit to the authority of the law.”
The judge stressed that criminal sentences should be realistic and described the original sentence as “shocking and disturbingly inappropriate”.
“Such a sentence effectively denies the appellant any realistic prospect of post-incarceration life, extinguishing hope and arguably offending the constitutional injunction that everyone has the right to dignity and not to be treated in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.”
Sentenced reduced
The SCA upheld Cele’s appeal and reduced his sentence for murder to 18 years, while his sentence for attempted robbery was reduced to 10 years.
The remaining sentences will remain unchanged, but will now run concurrently with the murder sentence.
As a result, Cele will serve an effective 28 years imprisonment.
“The sentence is antedated to 6 May 2013.”
NOW READ: Fake mechanic who ‘milked’ victims sees jail sentence for car theft cut to 8 years
