Cape Town – The Western Cape High Court has sentenced four men to life imprisonment for the "savage" murder of 19-year-old Bongiwe Ninini in July 2015.
Ninini's ex-boyfriend Phumlani Nyewu, Masimthembe Solontsi, Melikhaya Mgushelo and Thabiso Balithoba, were found guilty of her murder in December last year. On Monday, acting judge Mushtak Parker described the "horror that unfolded" on the night of her murder.
On July 18, 2015 Ninini had joined Nyewu at his house where the other three men, all of whom were known to her, were also socialising. Together, they danced and drank "when for no apparent reason they turned on her and brutally and savagely killed her".
Parker expressed his "absolute horror" at the accused's betraying her trust in them: "It was a relentless attack on the deceased".
Ninini was grabbed from behind by accused number two, Masimthembe Solontsi, and strangled. She fell to the ground and was then hit over the head with beer bottles, and was then kicked and stomped on.
The men wrapped her in a sheet as she was bleeding and then carried through Khayelitsha "brazenly" to a field where she was dumped in an open drain.
Nyewu left the scene and returned with a spade. All four men beat her with it, fracturing her skull.
Parker said he found her injuries difficult to describe in short words: "her skull and scalp were opened up".
The pathologist testified during the trial that she had bled out.
"The accused simply carried on with their lives, for all of 10 days. Some went back to work, others did nothing", Parker said.
They were arrested on July 28.
Accused number four, Thabiso Balithoba, took the "dreaded spade" which had been washed and stored it under his bed.
Parker said the young woman had been enjoying herself with them. She had been "vulnerable, unarmed, alone and outnumbered".
When she had "screamed for dear life", Nyewu's brother had woken from his deep sleep in the room next door. He had gone to investigate but had been stopped by his brother and prevented from offering assistance.
Parker found that the motive for the attack was unknown.
He said the young 19-year-old had a zest for life and was very loved by her family, but "was killed for no reason whatsoever".
"She was savagely attacked, relentlessly, sustained until she died".
He also found that the murder had been premeditated.
Not one of the men had shown remorse or taken responsibility for the killing, and this he said impacted on their chances of successful rehabilitation.
The men were between the ages of 18 and 22-years-old at the time of the murder. None had previous convictions, but the acting judge found no substantial or compelling circumstances to deviate from a life sentence prescribed by minimum sentencing legislation, for murder.
Earlier, he called Ninini's mother, Nomalozi, to testify. He said he had not taken the decision lightly, but felt that "often in this milieu, the voice of the dead is not given due prominence".
The softly spoken woman told the court that her only daughter, the youngest of three children was "joyous and always friendly". She said her daughter had been close to Masimthembe Solontsi, accused number two, describing him as one of her best friends, whom she often spent time with.
"This is still affecting us. When I'm thinking about Bongiwe one of her wishes was to renovate my house. And other things she used to do for me at home. She was always motivating me. She was a hairdresser. She would bring money if she had done hair and assisted us".
She said her death had "left a void". She also told the court that she had not received any counselling in the 18 months since the murder, and every time she had tried to get professional help, the queues to see a social worker had simply been too long.
The four men will spend the next 25 years behind bars, before becoming eligible for parole.