Thabong - The High Court, convened in Virginia in the Free State, on Friday sentenced five gang members to lengthy prison sentences for murder, police said.
Warrant Officer Malebo Khosana said the sentencing followed the killing of Malefetsane Shadrack Mbena, which was reported to Thabong police on March 30, 2014, after his body was found at the Masimong Mine, next to Erfdeel Road.
Khosana said onf of the gangs members, Lebohang “Makanda” Joseph Mothibedi, 28, was sentenced to life imprisonment. While three, Mathata Andries Radebe, 28, Bongani Mangxola, 26, and Wonder Moholi Moeketsi, 25, were sentence to 22 years in jail. And, the last one, Teboho Edwin Malobehla, 25, was sentenced to three years in prison.
The five men are all Thabong residents.
“The sentencing follows an incident that occurred on the 29 March 2014, where a clash broke between the deceased and his friends at a tavern in Streiting, Thabong. They went out of the tavern and his friends attacked him with sharp objects. After that they took him to the open space near Erfdeel were they dumped him,” said Khosana.
The five were arrested on March 31, 2014. “It was whilst the operation was underway when the SAPS discovered that the five accused were members of a gang called Zaota, and that they killed Malefetsane Mbena for leaving the gang to join the IJP gang.”
Free State Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thabethe Mpembe lauded the officers and the justice system for the stringent sentences passed upon the accused. “This shows that crime in any form or shape will not be tolerated in our communities,” he said.
ANA