Cape Town - Five people convicted of killing a Malmesbury cop were sentenced in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.
They all played roles in the robbery and murder of Warrant officer Deon Dumas, who was strangled to death on Christmas last year.
Dumas, who lived alone and was stationed at Malmesbury Police Station, was last seen alive on Christmas Eve after dropping off a gift for his mother’s doctor.
The cop’s body was found in bushes in Witsands, Atlantis, on 27 December.
His killers attempted to sell his white BMW in Khayelitsha but couldn’t find a buyer.
According to court papers, Dumas was approached by prostitutes Naydene Hill and Margaret van Wyk and taken to Witsands.
There, Thobinceba Mditshane, Mateo Nero, and a 14-year-old boy joined them and pounced on Dumas. A sixth accused, Mzondeleli Dasheka, entered into a plea agreement and was sentenced to three years behind bars for robbery.
Dasheka was the one who looked for a buyer for the BMW.
On Wednesday, Judge Mark Sher described Mditshane and Nero as “cold and callous”, and said it had been Nero’s modus operandi to rob prostitutes’ clients.
The gang had left Dumas tied up in the bush, and returned later to kill him.
“When you got there, you found him still lying there bound, gagged, hooded and still managing to make a sound and trying to set himself free. One can only imagine, the fear and panic,” Sher said.
“Accused five (Nero) tells us that accused four (Mditshane) took a car seat cover and placed it over the head and with means of shoelaces, he smothered the remaining life out from the deceased.
“After you did this, you calmly returned to your home of your parents and proceeded to have Christmas lunch and went to the beach.”
The teen got five years, for robbery, at a Youth Centre.
The prostitutes each got 12 years for robbery aggravated.
Mditsane received a life sentence for murder and 15 years for robbery aggravated.
Nero was sentenced to 15 years for robbery aggravated, and 25 years for murder. These will run concurrently.
Western Cape SAPS said it welcomed the lengthy sentences.