Pretoria - The High Court in Middelburg has sentenced 49-year-old Lefadi Chego to life plus five years imprisonment, after convicting him for the murder of his girlfriend, Zama Zithobile Maphisa, aged 35.
Monica Nyuswa, NPA regional spokesperson in Mpumalanga said Chego was additionally sentenced for defeating the ends of justice.
“This is after Chego pleaded guilty to the offence and was subsequently convicted. The accused and the deceased met in Alexander, Gauteng.
“Chego told the court, through his lawyer, that he was in a love relationship with the deceased since April 2020, and their relationship became sour after the victim fell pregnant and subsequently gave birth to a baby girl,” Nyuswa said.
“After the child was born, (the court heard that) the deceased became rude to him and his family. She further took an amount of R60 000, without his permission and blatantly told him that it was her reward for physical pleasure,” she said.
The court heard that on September 29, 2020, Chego invited the deceased to an outing in Verena, outside Zithabiseni Resort in Mpumalanga.
He said with the excursion he hoped that they could rekindle their troubled relationship.
“Upon their arrival, the conversation about money started, where the deceased demanded the accused to pay damages to her family since they have a child out of wedlock,” said Nyuswa.
The court heard that the conversation became confrontational and ended up with Maphisa being fatally stabbed with a knife.
“When he realised that the deceased was no longer breathing, he abandoned the deceased’s lifeless body in the resort and threw the murder weapon away.
“He then handed over the deceased’s handbag and a cell phone to her cousin and told them that the deceased is hospitalised in one of the hospitals in Mpumalanga. Chego confessed to the murder a month later,” said Nyuswa.
In aggravation of sentence, State advocate Gertrude Nkosi addressed the court about the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa.
“She said the killing of life partners has become a far too regular occurrence. The deceased did not deserve to die in such a brutal manner, as she had her whole life ahead of her, and she left behind a grieving mother, father and other friends and family, who are still coming to terms with her untimely and senseless death,” said Nyuswa.
A Victim Impact Statement, compiled by the court preparation officer Given Mampye, was submitted.
It detailed how the murder of Maphisa had a huge impact on her family and friends.
Positive DNA was also presented to the court.
In the end, Judge Thando Mankge found no substantial and compelling factors which justify the imposition of a lesser sentence than the minimum prescribed sentence.
“She sentenced Chego to life imprisonment for murder and five years for defeating the ends of justice. The court ordered the sentence of five years to run concurrently with life imprisonment, the effective sentence being life,” said Nyuswa.
Meanwhile, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Mpumalanga, advocate Nkebe Kanyane lauded the prosecutor and the investigating officer for ensuring that the gender-based violence and femicide perpetrator receives “a deserving sentence”.
IOL