Durban - A jealous Mozambican who killed his lover’s seven-year-old son to get even with her, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Elias Msimango, 53, was sentenced on Thursday for the murder of Olwethu Dlamini.
Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Fikile Mokgohloa said that while the murder was brutal, it weighed so heavily on Msimango’s conscience that he called the child’s mother, Thuli, and confessed what he had done.
“This counts in his favour,” the judge said.
Judge Mokgohloa found that this factor, and that Msimango had co-operated with police and pointed out the location of the body, had shown remorse for his actions and was a first offender, amounted to substantial and compelling circumstances that allowed her to deviate from the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment.
The child’s mother, however, said that Msimango deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison.
“My child was taken away from me by a man we trusted. God knows the pain I am going through. I can never forgive him,” Thuli said.
Msimango pleaded guilty to the murder earlier this week, explaining that he had been in a relationship with Thuli since 2005.
He said problems started creeping into the relationship because he was unemployed and Dlamini would regularly leave the house for several days while he attended to the children. He began to suspect she was cheating on him.
He said that in September, Dlamini went to Eshowe and on September 22, when he called her to come home, they had a huge argument.
He said he was so angry with Thuli, that he called Olwethu to a shack in the yard where he strangled the child, dug a shallow grave and buried the body. He then told Dlamini that Olwethu was missing.
On October 3, Msimango left for Mozambique. Once back in his home country, he called Dlamini and confessed.
“I told her where I had buried the body, but after three days she called me to inform me that they could not locate the child’s body. I came back to South Africa to show them where the body was buried.”
Upon his arrival in Joburg, Msimango was arrested. He pointed out the location of the body to police.
Daily News