VUYO MKIZE
HE WAS forcibly ripped from his bed naked, beaten to a pulp, yanked into a car boot and left to die at Jabulani fire station.
And now, the man responsible for the brutal murder of Anele Magobiyane on the morning of December 18 last year will spend the rest of his life in prison for the crime.
Yesterday in the Johannesburg High Court, 41-year-old Nkosinathi Dladla was sentenced to four years in prison on each count of the kidnapping of Magobiyane and Sibusiso Mazibuko on the night of December 17 last year.
He was also sentenced to 12 years for attempting to murder Mazibuko and two more years for assaulting Magobiyane’s mother, Beauty. The sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence he was handed.
Dladla had said a sangoma had told him the two men had broken into his house in Emndeni and stolen his cellphone.
On his return, Dladla barged into Mazibuko’s home, demanding the phone back while searching his bedroom.
When Mazibuko told him he knew nothing about the phone or who had stolen it, Dladla and three of his friends kicked and punched him before tying his hands with rope and bundling him into the boot of his car.
Mazibuko was taken to Jabulani hostel, where he was beaten and lashed.
Magobiyane was also abducted from his home, but more torture was inflicted on him by Dladla and his cronies than on Mazibuko.
In her judgment, Judge Lucy Mailula said Dladla had been actively involved in the assault on both men and had shown them no respect.
“He (Dladla) showed no respect to other people’s property when he barged into Sibusiso’s place and started searching for his phone without permission.
“He bound Sibusiso’s hands, put him in the boot and took him to the hostel. By the time he (Sibusiso) came back, he had signs of serious injuries to his head,” she said.
Judge Mailula said the assault on Magobiyane was further indication of Dladla’s lack of respect for people’s dignity.
“He (Magobiyane) was taken out of his home naked. You (regarded) him as disposable garbage. There was a time when the deceased (Magobiyane) was loaded on a wheelbarrow to be thrown away.
“All this indicates contempt and disregard for the deceased’s life. When you realised he was not dead, you took him off the wheelbarrow and beat him again,” she said.
Judge Mailula added: “Murder is viewed in a serious light, and the brutality (with) which Magobiyane was killed is an aggravating factor.”
Magobiyane’s relatives stood for a moment inside the courtroom, sighing deeply, after the sentences had been handed down and the court had adjourned.
“The law has worked well. It was a very fair sentence. The way he was killed was very brutal. We were there to clean his body after it was found and what we saw was very bad.
“He was hurt very badly. We hope his mother will also heal now after hearing about this judgment and we can now all look into taking her to counselling for all this because she was badly traumatised,” said Mahlomola Mndaweni, Magobiyane’s uncle.