Two men to serve an effective 20 years in jail; this comes after they were sentenced at the Welkom Magistrates Court on 27 August 2024.
On 23 July 2019 at about 19:00, Ms Dipuo Matlhoko (25) was assisted by Mr Mlambo and Mr Maturi to transport her property from Bronville to Odendaalsrus.
They were suddenly pointed with firearms by two men and were taken by force to a dumping site in the same vicinity.
The victims were beaten and hacked with pangas, and Mr Maturi succumbed to his injuries. Mr Mlambo pretended to be dead, and after some time, they managed to escape and run away together with Ms Matlhoko.
They requested assistance from a passing police vehicle driven by Warrant Officer Coetzee from Welkom Flying Squad, who offered help.
The hijacked vehicle, Toyota Hilux was spotted in Welkom with blood stains and two suspects who were in possession of hijacked stolen properties were apprehended.
Warrant Officer Bertus Olivier was assigned to the case. He worked tirelessly to ensure that the suspects faced the might of the law.
Both accused, Robert Maine (29) and Thato Mokoena (32) remained in custody until they were sentenced. They were both found guilty as charged and sentenced to 36 and 28 years in jail respectively.
