The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, applauded assiduous work of the investigating team, the Judiciary, including the NPA as well as witnesses, for ensuring that yet another pair of rotten potatoes, who do not deserve to live among civil society is sent to prison, for a very long time.
General Zuma’s applaud comes after the circuit of the Tshwane North High Court sitting at Breyten, sentenced two men, on 29 April 2019, to multiple life terms for the murder of three men who were found hanging at Nhlazatshe extension 6, near Badplaas on 28 September 2016.
Their sentencing stems from an incident wherein the accused, Bheki Arnot Makhanya and Bhuti Solomon Mageba Nkosi who were 23 and 30 respectively, at the time murdered Jacky Mandla Maziya (38), Sfiso Mmemo Nkosi (25) and Elvis Mfanafuthi Mavimbela (25).
The court heard how the pair tied the victims with barbed wire on their necks and hands and hanged them on the rafters. Not only did the accused hang the victims, but they further burnt them with a hot iron while they were hanging and pleading for their lives, until they succumbed to the torture.
The court also heard that the trio was murdered as an initiative and ploy to eliminate competition in illegal drug peddling in the area.
The bodies of the deceased were found with multiple burn wounds and all of them were gagged in order to mute their screams.
The accused first appeared before the Eerstehoek Magistrates Court on 18 October 2016 and have been in and out of court until they were finally convicted and sentenced as follows:
Accused number 1, Bheki Arnot Makhanya was sentenced to one life term imprisonment, while accused number 2, Bhuti Solomon Mageba Nkosi was convicted to three life terms. While the court was in session, the presiding officer mentioned the seriousness of impinging on the most fundamental right of all, the right to life. He highlighted how any remorse, if any, would not assist in bringing back the lives of the slain trio and the importance of sending a strong message to other would-be offenders on how serious similar cases are viewed by the courts. He then meted out the hefty sentences to the accused.
“It is such kind of hard work and outcomes that restore trust in the country’s judicial system and assert the authority of the state”, said General Zuma.
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