The South African Police Service (SAPS) management in the Western Cape has welcomed the substantial prison sentence handed down to 23-year-old Calvin Charles for the 2022 murder of 16-year-old Cheslyn Malgas.
The conviction and sentencing follow a meticulous investigation by the Provincial Organised Crime, Anti-Gang Investigations unit. The case was led by the esteemed Detective Sergeant Marlon Appolis.
The court heard that the tragic incident occurred when the deceased, Cheslyn Malgas, was at his family home in Scottsdene, Kraaifontein. Without warning, Malgas was gruesomely shot and killed. A friend who was with him at the time, a 15-year-old girl, sustained gunshot wounds to her right upper leg and left buttocks.
Following the registration of a case docket, Detective Sergeant Appolis conducted an intensive investigation. This led to the arrest of Calvin Charles and a co-accused. The two were subsequently tried in the Blue Downs Regional Court. The co-accused was later acquitted, but Charles was found guilty on all charges.
Calvin Charles was sentenced as follows:
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Count 1 (Murder): 15 years’ direct imprisonment.
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Count 2 (Attempted Murder): 15 years’ direct imprisonment.
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Count 3 (Illegal Possession of a Firearm): 5 years’ direct imprisonment.
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Count 4 (Illegal Possession of Ammunition): 5 years’ direct imprisonment.
The court ruled that the sentences for the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition (Counts 3 and 4) are to run concurrently with the sentence for attempted murder (Count 2). This brings Calvin Charles’s total effective sentence to 30 years of direct imprisonment.
