The two men who murdered a young Pretoria mother moments after she dropped her five-year-old son at a pre-primary school were sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years imprisonment.
Gerhardus du Plessis and Willem Martinus Pieterse, who were convicted and sentenced in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, were among a group of five men arrested in connection with the drive-by shooting of Channelle Henning on November 8 in Faerie Glen, Pretoria.
Apart from pleading guilty to murder they also pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed firearm and illegal possession of ammunition for which they were sentenced to five and three years respectively.
The sentences will run concurrently with the main sentence and came about as a result of a negotiated sentence agreement.
State prosecutor Gerie Nel told the court the plea agreement was reached following consultations with Henning's parents and the investigating officer, Captain Van der Spuy.
The two made detailed confessions about their role in the murder.
As part of the deal, the two have agreed to testify against the other accused when they ultimately stand trial.
Preshan Singh, 24, Ambrose Monye, 37, and Andre Gouws, 47, are expected to stand trial some time in the new year.
The court heard that Du Plessis and Pieterse befriended each other in July this year after which Pieterse told him how to make extra money doing “work” for Monye, whom he later met.
At a subsequent meeting at a petrol station in Pretoria's Sunnyside area he also met Gouws, who then took the two men to Faerie Glen where Gouws pointed out where Henning lived and worked.
“The accused (Du Plessis) asked Pieterse what was going on and was informed that they have got a job to hit someone. He understood this to mean that someone was to be killed.”
Du Plessis and Pieterse were given R600 to buy a gun, but they spent the money.
Nel said they then obtained the revolver that was used in the murder from Singh.
At Singh's bail hearing on November 30, Singh said Pieterse, a work colleague, had asked to borrow the revolver.
Nel said the two men failed in their first attempt to shoot Henning on the weekend of November 6 because they went to the wrong address.
At a meeting on the same weekend Nel said that Du Plessis heard some one tell Gouws over the phone that the “bitch has the baby this weekend”.
Nel said Pieterse had claimed that Monye would pay them R10 000 each “once the hit was done”.
Du Plessis and Pieterse then fell out with each other and Pieterse attempted to carry out the crime on his own on November 7. He was unable to because of a “mishap” with the motorbike.
Du Plessis told a friend about the “job”, who attempted to persuade him not to go ahead with it, but Du Plessis decided to carry on with the hit in the wake of threats to kill his family, allegedly made by Monye through an associate.
Nel said Du Plessis and Pieterse went to Faerie Glen on November 8 and waited for Henning to drop off her son at a crèche along Manitoba Drive.
As the woman drove off, the pair approached her and Du Plessis fired two shots at a close range.
The court heard that Henning tried to drive away but could not and Du Plessis saw blood on her right shoulder.
The pair later met Monye at court where he was standing trial for an unrelated murder.
Monye was apparently impressed by the news and referred to Du Plessis as “killerboy”.
Nel said a few days later Monye gave Pieterse R2 500 “to enable him to flee to Despatch” where he was later arrested following Du Plessis's decision to hand himself in to police.
Nel said Pieterse suffered from a drug and alcohol addiction while Du Plessis had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder while working for the police.
Monye and Gouws will appear in court on January 17 for bail application. Singh is currently out of custody on R5 000 bail, which was granted in November.
Du Plessis also faces separate corruption charges, relating to a docket stolen at his workplace. On Wednesday, the Pretoria Magistrate's Court postponed the matter to February 21. - Sapa