The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Dintletse Molefe, welcomed the sentence handed down to Orapeleng Patrick Ratilodi (43) on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 by the Mafikeng High Court.
Ratilodi’s arrest emanated from an incident on Monday, 10 September 2018, when a bakery truck delivered bread at a shop in Mogopela district in Taung. The two employees (driver and his assistant) where busy preparing the order for the shop when two men, sitting on the veranda of the shop, suddenly pointed them with a firearm and fatally wounded the one employee.
The court heard that the accused searched the truck and robbed an undisclosed amount of money, furthermore they fled the scene in a red BMW.
After a thorough investigation and information received from witnesses, the suspects were arrested and the red BMW was seized. The second suspect was later acquitted in court, due to a lack of evidence against him, but Ratilodi was found guilty on charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The accused was sentenced as follows:
Murder : 20 years imprisonment
Robbery with aggravating circumstances : 10 years imprisonment
Pointing of a fire : 5 year imprisonment
The court ordered that the five years imposed on count 2 should run concurrent with count 1, he was therefore effectively sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner applauded the investigating officer, Sergeant Phemelo Seothaeng of Pudimoe Detectives and all other role players including prosecution for their diligence in ensuring that the accused gets maximum sentence, which she said will serve as a warning to those who commit crime, including murder that they will do the time in jail.
