The Western Cape High Court on Monday sentenced Akhona Ntsokotha to an effective 25 years behind bars for killing a man over a t-shirt.
The 25-year-old and father of two entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State and admitted guilt on all the charges against him – one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of intimidation and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The crimes were committed over several days, from December 5 until December 13 of 2015.
A few days before, Ntsokotha borrowed a red t-shirt from Lukho Mazimba, who informed him that the t-shirt was in fact not his but belonged to another man, Mpendula Bam.
Despite this, Ntsokotha left Mazimba’s home wearing the t-shirt, and although he was asked to return it several times, he failed to do so.
On December 5, Mazimba and Bam, went in search of Ntsokotha and found him wearing the t-shirt. They stripped him of the t-shirt and left him.
But an enraged and armed Ntsokotha went in search of them and found them at Mazimba’s house in Khayamandi in the Stellenbosch area.
There, he opened fire on them, shooting Mazimba in the hip and grazing Bam’s left ear. The two men fled from the house to seek medical assistance. Mazimba had to undergo an operation to have the bullet removed.
A week later, Ntsokotha chased Mazimba down the street brandishing a firearm and threatened to kill him. Mazimba escaped into his house, and Ntsokotha left the scene.
In the early hours of the following morning, Ntsokotha tracked down Bam and shot him dead at the Khayamandi taxi rank. He died of gunshot wounds to his abdomen and chest.
On December 16, Ntsokotha was arrested and a 9mm semi-automatic recovered.
Western Cape High Court judge Nape Dolamo said Bam had lost his life “over a mere t-shirt”.
She said Ntsokotha had a “total disregard for the sanctity of life”.
For the two charges of attempted murder, he was sentenced to eight years for each count. For the charges of intimidation and the illegal possession of a firearm, he was sentenced to a total of 11 years. The judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning he will serve an effective 25 years behind bars.
State prosecutor Kriban Pillay consulted with the victim’s family who was satisfied with the sentence.
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