A Mamelodi kingpin and his gang of three were sentenced for the murder of a businessman who was killed in a hail of bullets on the N1 highway in 2015.

The four men were accused of shooting a businessman, Wandile Bozwana, over six times on the N1 highway in Pretoria in a supposed hit in 2015.

Bozwana, the director of Orgazma Energy Drinks, was driving with Orgazma events co-ordinator Mpho Baloyi when assailants men opened fire on their yellow Renault Clio RS.

These men, known as the Bozwana Murderers, appeared in the Pretoria High Court on January 26 and were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.

The mastermind criminal and taxi boss, Vusi Reginald Mathibela (37), known as Vusi Khekhe, Sipho Patrick Hudla (41), Matamela Robert Mutapa (47), and Bonginkosi Paul Khumalo (43) face 10 years imprisonment for attempted murder, six years imprisonment for possession of a firearm and two years imprisonment for possession of ammunition.

The court ordered that the other sentences run concurrently with that of murder.

During the sentencing proceedings, the four asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment because of the amount of time they have already spent awaiting the finalization of the trial since their arrest in 2015 and 2016.

Adv. Jennifer Cronje argued that time spent in detention was no one’s fault and that the court should take into consideration the personal circumstances of the family of the deceased because they lost a breadwinner.

She further asked the court to impose a sentence of life imprisonment.

All four men pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them; however, Adv. Cronje was able to present evidence to prove the guilt of the four men beyond reasonable doubt and that all four men had a common purpose in killing the deceased, and they were convicted on 22 June 2022.

During the testimony of the brother of the deceased,  Bozwana, in aggravation of sentence told the court that not only did his family suffer because of the passing of his brother, but the community also suffered because the deceased employed many of them.

“When handing down the sentence, the judge said he found that there were substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence because the four had spent a long time in custody since their arrest and were kept in solitary confinement since their conviction.”

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the four were sentenced following the murder of Bozwana about nine years ago.

“On October 2, 2015, Hudla, Mutapa, and Khumala followed the deceased, who was at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, in Johannesburg with his business associate, Betty Mpho Baloyi, on the instruction of Mathibela.
The two were using Baloyi’s car, and she was driving when they were leaving Sandton to drive back to Pretoria.

“The three men continued to follow them until they reached the Garsfontein off-ramp, and the traffic lights were red,” said Mahanjana.

He added, “The three men got out of the BMW car they were driving and started shooting at Baloyi’s car.”

Mahanjana said the three fled the scene, leaving both Bozwana and Baloyi shot.

She said, however, that after the three fled, Baloyi managed to drive a distance, reaching Garsfontein Road, where the vehicle stopped and police and emergency services arrived.

“Bozwana and Baloyi were taken to the nearest hospital, where he later died due to multiple gunshot wounds.”

She said during the investigation that all four men were arrested on different dates between 2015 and 2016.

“Three of the four men have been in custody since their arrest. However, Mathibela was granted R50 000 bail in December 2016, after he handed himself over at the Brooklyn police station in January 2016.”

“He was then rearrested in 2019 after he violated his bail conditions, which were revoked and his bail money was forfeited to the state and has been in custody since.”

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