Cape Town - State advocate Renee Uys called for life imprisonment for the killer of 17-year-old Amahle Quku.
Leonard Mzingeli was found guilty on two counts of rape, one count of murder and one count of attempted murder. This charge related to a woman who survived after Mzingeli stabbed her more than 20 times, as well as his attack on Quku.
“Gender-based violence (GBV) is this country’s current pandemic that we are facing and no matter how many people are sentenced regularly in these court rooms, there just seems to be no let-up,” advocate Uys said.
In explaining the seriousness of the crime and severity of the community’s anger, she said: “When Amahle Quku’s body was discovered, the community’s outrage was so severe that the person who took him to be incarcerated had his house burnt down. He was assaulted for not allowing the community to attack Mr Mzingeli.”
She argued Mzingeli had proven rape was a catalyst for more serious crimes due to his initial offence being rape and attempted murder of a woman in Sinyagena informal settlement in October 2019. It was escalated when he raped Quku and then choked her to death with his bare hands in June 2020.
To support her argument in aggravation of sentence, Uys quoted from the victim impact statement of the rape survivor who testified in court.
“I can still see his face every time I close my eyes when I go to sleep. It is very painful, because of him it is difficult to get a job because of my scars. It is difficult to be around people, because they want to know why do I have so many scars,” Uys read from the victim’s testimony.
Amahle Quku’s mother, Mandulele said: “I was a happy person before my child was murdered. When you are raising a child you have hope that one day things will be fine, especially if you are a struggling parent like myself.
“When that person is gone, you lose hope and everything just fades.”
Advocate Michael Sebueng, for the defence, asked the judge to deviate from the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment and instead order a 30-year sentence based, in part, on Mzingeli’s personal circumstances.
He said Mzingeli, who is currently 26 years of age, was 23 and 24 at the time of the commission of the offences. He was supporting his child before he was incarcerated.
Sebueng said: “It is thus submitted that the court should treat him for sentence as a young adult offender who was easily subject to peer influence.”
He further argued that because Mzingeli was a first offender who never had brushes with the law before, he was a good candidate for rehabilitation.
Mzingeli will know his fate on July 19.