Ayanda Siyanda Mshengu has been handed down a 25-year sentence for the murder of IFP councillor, Mthembeni Excellent Majola, in Estcourt in August 2019.
The National Prosecuting Authority has hailed the conviction and sentence, adding that it was due to the prosecution and the Political Task Team.
The NPA's Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Majola was a ward councillor for a local branch of the IFP and had been travelling with two other occupants when Mshengu opened fire on the vehicle.
She said the party was divided into two opposing factions, and there was animosity between the factions.
"Majola was the leader of one of the factions, and members of the opposing faction wanted him dead. There had been previous attempts on his life which had rendered him paraplegic. On the day of the incident, Majola was driving on the R105 highway in the Estcourt area, and he was accompanied by his minor nephew and Sithembiso Promise Mahlinza.
“At some point in their journey, a car pulled up alongside their vehicle, and the occupants, Mshengu being one of them, fired at Majola's vehicle, killing him and Mahlinza. They died of multiple gunshot wounds, and Mshengu was arrested after police traced him in Soweto," Ramkisson-Kara said.
In court, advocates Lawrence Gcaba, Elvis Gcweka, and Nhlanhla Shange led evidence from police as well as a confession.
"Even though Mshengu later denied the confession and pointed it out in court, the state-led evidence convinced the court to accept his evidence," Ramkisson-Kara said.
Victim impact statements read out in court revealed Majola as a kind and generous man who took care of his family and community.
Ramkisson-Kara said Mshengu was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for Majola’s murder, 20 years imprisonment for Mahlinza’s murder, and five years imprisonment for the attempted murder of Majola’s nephew.
She said the court deviated from the minimum sentence of life imprisonment for the murders as the court believed that Mshengu showed remorse by making the initial confession. Since the sentences will run concurrently, he will serve an effective 25-year prison sentence.
IOL