The police management in Mpumalanga has welcomed a life sentence handed down by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court which was sitting at Middelburg to a man who murdered his ex-girlfriend at Valbank near KwaMhlanga. The sentence was imposed on Wednesday 2 December 2020.
The decision to sentence Titus Timtos Thabo, aged 28, was reached after appalling evidence was presented in court which revealed details on how he brutally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, who later died. The shocking incident happened inside a moving bus in full view of other commuters on 6 January 2020.
On that sad day, Thabo took a bus which was travelling from Pretoria to KwaMhlanga and he sat at a separate seat away from the victim Mahlangu. The court heard that Thabo did not accept that his then 27-year-old girlfriend Phindile Portia Mahlangu decided to end the relationship he had with her. He then orchestrated an evil plan to end her life.
The bus reached Allemansdrift C near Vaalbank where most commuters alighted but Mahlangu and Thabo remained with other few commuters as well as the bus driver. He then suddenly stood up and walked towards Mahlangu where an argument ensued about the decision she took regarding their relationship. Thabo then slapped her before stabbing her with a knife several times.
Terrified commuters screamed in fear for help where the bus driver also attempted to stop the bus so that he could intervene. However, Thabo instructed him to continue driving while he went on stabbing Mahlangu in spite of her pleading for her life. Once he was done, he then told the driver to stop and he got off the bus and went home.
Mahlangu, who was bleeding profusely, was assisted to a nearby house where she was then taken to the nearest clinic. Unfortunately she later succumbed to her injuries.
Police were notified about the incident and a case of murder was opened. Thabo after being informed by his brother that police as well as community members were looking for him concerning the murder of his ex-girlfriend, he requested his brother to accompany him to hand himself to the police at Vaalbank.
When handing down the sentence, Judge Thando Mankge quoted the Statistician General in saying that a society free of fear of crime is tantamount to growing the economy because their fear of crime, limits women to engage in economic activities. She further sent a warning that tourists will be sceptical to visit South Africa if Gender-Based Violence crimes in the country are mostly flagged on the global map.
The police management trusts that the sentence will bring hope to victims of GBV as well as send a strong message to perpetrators of all forms of crime, especially when such crime is directed towards women and children that severe punishment exists for such offenders.
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