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Inside the Johannesburg Magistrates Court.
- Mpho Thobane was labeled a “cold-blooded, ruthless killer” as he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- Thobane was sentenced after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend by setting her on fire.
- The magistrate deviated from the prescribed minimum sentence due to the circumstances of the crime.
Mpho Thobane, who was found guilty of killing his girlfriend Viwe Dalingozi in 2018, was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The court deviated from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years.
Thobane set Dalingozi on fire in his apartment before fleeing to Limpopo.
The court described him as a “coward” and a “cold-blooded murderer”.
Justice Hambokazi Twele was scathing in her sentencing decision.
“Not only are you a cold-blooded killer, you’re also a coward. You had direct intentions to kill her. She looked at you to protect her, but you poured gasoline on her and set her on fire in her own private space.
“The aggravating thing is that the accused was her lover, but he did not protect her. The cruel and painful part of the deceased’s death at the hands of his lover is that he was killed in a place that he thought was safe.
“After her house was set on fire, you were unable to rescue, secure and help her. The callous and heartless attitude of not checking her condition and fleeing to Limpopo was clear proof of the lack of remorse,” Twele said.
Previous criminal record
Thobane, who has a previous assault record, arrived in Johannesburg in 2018.
He was working as a street vendor when he met Dalingozi and they began a relationship.
Twele said: “The defendant showed no remorse. The deceased was killed by her own lover in her own place of residence. The family of the deceased has been deprived of the love, friendship and companionship of the deceased. Nothing that I have. What you can say or do today will comfort you for the tragic loss you have suffered.
“This is clearly a case of gender violence. The community deserves to live in a better world than this one. I am convinced that the members of a community have the right to expect that the court will protect their rights by imposing an appropriate sentence.”
The magistrate pointed out that “hardly a day goes by without the media reporting on a woman or child raped or murdered in this country.”
“The defendant denied how the deceased died. The family has been left with sad memories of how she was murdered and images of her charred body lying on a stretcher.
“The mother of the deceased has been severely affected by the death of her son. She has suffered from depression and was once admitted to Mthatha Hospital. This has also affected her work performance,” Twele added.
