Motsamai ‘Bushy’ Lekgatle was found guilty of the murder of his police girlfriend, Mane Moletsane in the Potchefstroom High Court on Wednesday.
Judge Kobus Strydom sentenced him to 15 years in prison and another three months for assaulting another man after finding him having sex with her. The sentences will run concurrently. Lekgatle was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Strydom says the murder was motivated by revenge and the case had elements of a crime of passion.
‘The incident is serious, therefore, the court needs to send a clear message to the community that murder against women will not be tolerated,’ he said. He pointed out that there were already five murder cases on the roll, four of which involved women who had been shot by their husbands or boyfriends.
Strydom says that, while the accused had verbalised his remorse to the mother of the deceased, he still holds the view that the death was an accident and maintains his innocence.
Last year, the Herald reported that the courageous constable had been shot by her boyfriend in Ikageng in the early hours of 16 November. The court went on to reveal the events that led up to that fateful night.
The state prosecutor, Adv. Kobus Jacobs said Mane did not come home that night and Motsamai went looking for her.
He found her in her car with another man in front of a club. He then assaulted the man and took Mane to his place. They had an argument and he shot her twice – once in the chest, damaging her lungs, and again in the head.
Pre-sentencing
During the trial on Tuesday, the defence advocate, Pogiso Monchusi, said the mother of the deceased is of the opinion that a sentence of correctional supervision would be sufficient for the offender. During his mitigating arguments, he said the accused is a first-time offender whose responsibility it is to provide for the general welfare and care of his two children and the family of the deceased.
He is also the employer of two taxi drivers who are the family breadwinners.
Jacobs argued that Monchusi’s arguments were ordinary mitigating circumstances and there was nothing compelling about them.
‘The accused did not show remorse and never went to court to say he was sorry. It seems he is sorry that his girlfriend died.
The fact that he is looking after his children and the deceased’s family is not convincing enough. There were problems in their relationship. It was not the model relationship he made it out to be.
He shot her twice and still maintained his innocence. He is not honest with the court,’ he argued.
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