Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, has welcomed hefty sentences handed down to two accused who murdered their partners in different areas in Mpumalanga. Both sentences were meted by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court sitting in Nelspruit and Delmas respectively, on 5 August 2020.
The sentencing of Nelspruit, involves 50-year-old Smangele Shongwe who murdered her husband, 48-year-old Vusi Mona. The court heard how Mona was kidnapped from his house at Kanyamazane on 14 February 2017, and later found murdered in Pienaar.
Shongwe hired three hit-men who kidnapped and murdered her husband on the said day, actions which sent shock waves within the community as Mona was a well-known person in Pienaar and also a local teacher. As a result, police investigated the matter thoroughly and managed to make a breakthrough. The outcome of the investigation pointed at Shongwe as the mastermind and she was arrested, hence her sentencing as follows:
Count 1, house robbery five years.
Count 2. Robbery with firearm, she was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.
Count 3. Kidnapping, two years imprisonment.
Count 4. Murder, she was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Count 5. Possession of a firearm, five years imprisonment, meanwhile on count 6, Shongwe was sentenced to one year for unlawful possession of ammunition. The court has ordered that count 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, will run concurrently with count 4 for the purpose of the sentence.
Meanwhile, the General has also welcomed the 18 year jail term handed down in Delmas to 43 year old Jantjie Mei Mahlangu. The accused murdered his girlfriend, 37-year-old Gladys Mtsweni on 31 March 2019, at Kwaggafontein. He stabbed Mtsweni to death, covered her body with a blanket and dumped it next to the road nearby. Police connected all the dots and built a strong case against him hence his sentencing.
General Zuma has lauded the sterling work done by the Department of Justice, NPA as well as the investigators for ensuring that both accused get maximum sentences. “I am happy that in a single day, two murderers were removed from the society. Both sentences will send a strong message to others who might be planning to commit similar acts, that the long arm of the law will catch up to them,” said General Zuma.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
