‘Ten years is not justice’

Keamogetswe Sefularo's 15-year-old murderer was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Picture: Itumeleng English

Keamogetswe Sefularo's 15-year-old murderer was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Picture: Itumeleng English

Published Oct 11, 2013

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Johannesburg - The family of a Randfontein girl who was killed by a self-confessed Satanist said they were unhappy with the sentence their child's killer received on Friday.

Keamogetswe Sefularo's 15-year-old murderer was sentenced to 10 years in prison, two of which were suspended in the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge.

“We are not satisfied as a family... Ten years is not justice,” said Busiswe Nkosi, who is Sefularo's cousin.

She said the justice system should review the Children's Act as it allowed children “to get away with murder”.

The chairman of Lukhanyo High School, Marake Motsisi, which Sefularo and her killer, who was also her friend, had attended, agreed that the sentence was not sufficient.

“We are not happy with the judgment or verdict for the fact that it doesn't send a clear message to others,” said Motsisi.

“It should have been stiffer,” he said, adding that the laws of the country were too lenient.

After the ruling, the Sefularo family broke down outside court.

Paramedics had to be called in to attend to Sefularo's mother after she lost consciousness.

She was taken to the nearby Natalspruit Hospital.

During earlier proceedings, Sefularo's killer told the court through a statement that she, Sefularo and her 19-year-old boyfriend had been part of a Satanic cult.

Sefularo had later left the group and was a threat to them.

The teen said she had offered to carry out the murder as she had hoped to gain approval and special powers which would allow her to travel outside her body.

She stabbed Sefularo in the stomach, neck and chest as they walked back from school on March 1.

“The deceased was touching her, pleading with her and asking her why she was doing this 1/8as she stabbed her 3/8,” Judge Geraldine Borchers said when delivering her judgment.

The girl was placed in a special place of care after her arrest.

“Upon arriving at the centre, she was eager to tell what she had done. She told the others she could leave her body and do Satanic (acts)”, said Borchers.

It was alleged that the girl attempted to recruit other girls at the centre to join the cult.

Officials then told the court that the girl had turned over a new leaf after she started being haunted by Sefularo.

A priest was called in and the girl showed remorse and was now said to be an example to other children at the centre.

Borchers said she did not believe that sudden rehabilitation had happened, but believed the girl could be rehabilitated as she served her sentence in the juvenile section of Leeuwkop prison.

After proceedings, the teen's aunt walked up to her and spoke to her briefly as she sat in the dock.

The girl was wearing a purple top and had black and blonde extensions to her hair.

She later walked out of court carrying a back pack on her shoulder and clutching a chocolate in the other hand.

Sapa

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