A 40-year-old Soshanguve man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court for the murder of his younger brother, a SANDF member, after a dispute over their mother’s will allegedly drove him to lure the victim home, poison him and stage a crash on the R80 Mabopane Highway to make the killing look like an accident.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Regional Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, said the 40-year-old Dineo Cambrige Baloyi (40) from Soshanguve appeared in the Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court this week.

Dineo was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his younger brother, Lethabo Baloyi (27).

Mahanjana said the court further imposed an additional five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

The deceased and the Baloyi were siblings, both born to the same mother.

“At the time of the incident, the deceased was employed by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and resided at SANDF barracks, while the accused lived with their mother at her home in Soshanguve.”

She said the mother, also a SANDF employee, was frequently deployed abroad.

“During one of her deployments, the accused accessed his mother’s bedroom and discovered her last will and testament.

“Upon learning that he was not a beneficiary, and that his brother stood to inherit.  He shared this information with his girlfriend, and together they devised a plan to kill the deceased.”

What followed was horrific: the pair allegedly lured Lethabo to their mother’s home, poisoned his drink and, when he lost consciousness, strangled him before staging a crash on the R80 to make it look like an accident.

“On 30 May 2018, the accused and his girlfriend invited the deceased to their mother’s residence under the pretext of socialising. They secretly administered poison to his drink. When the deceased lost consciousness, they strangled him until he died.

“They then placed his body in his vehicle, which they deliberately crashed along the R80 Mabopane Highway in an attempt to stage the incident as a motor vehicle accident.”

Following the incident, the girlfriend relocated to Thembisa and has not yet been traced by the police. Baloyi fled to Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, where he was later arrested for an unrelated kidnapping case involving another partner and her child.

While arrested, Dineo became sick and was hospitalised in September 2024.

“While in the hospital, he contacted his uncle and confessed to the murder of his brother. He requested that the investigating officer be informed, as he wished to make a formal confession.

“The investigating officer travelled to Mpumalanga, where Baloyi  made a confession before a magistrate. He was subsequently arrested for the murder on 09 September 2024.”

Mahanjana said in court that Dineo pleaded guilty to the offences  and requested the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence, citing his children as dependents.

“However, Regional Prosecutor Lufuno Manena opposed the request and argued for life imprisonment, submitting that the murder was motivated by jealousy and greed.

“In handing down a sentence, Magistrate Nel agreed with the State’s submissions, stating that Baloyi demonstrated a complete disregard for human life, noting that if he could kill his own brother, the danger to society was evident.”

The NPA welcomed the sentence, which affirms the courts’ seriousness in addressing violent crimes committed within families.