By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The Giyani Regional Court has sentenced to life imprisonment a 41-year-old man, Bonginkosi Godfrey Lucky Ngobeni from Mageva village in Giyani, Limpopo.
Ngobeni was arrested on 25 December 2010 in Gauteng after he terrorised the villages of Homu, Mageva and Xamfana in Giyani.
Between 24 to 27 November 2010, Ngobeni shot and killed Constable Jonas Sevha Chabalala of the Tzaneen Uniform branch.
He further shot the deceased’s girlfriend before taking their vehicles. The following day he robbed a mobile phone using a firearm while wearing a police uniform.
He further committed a house robbery under the pretence that he was a police officer.
Again, Ngobeni robbed an old man of his firearm, a box of bullets, three mobile phones and money amounting to R10 000.
He was arrested in possession of mobile phones, the vehicle of the deceased and the firearm of the old man with its ammunition.
In aggravating the sentence, Advocate Norman Makhubele argued that the accused should be removed from society as he was not the candidate who could be rehabilitated.
Makhubele said Ngobeni escaped from the prison where he was supposed to serve a 17- year sentence.
“He used the deceased vehicle to commit all these offences, and a firearm to harm all his victims.
“He was not going to stop his evil deeds if he was not arrested,” said Makhubele.
The trouble man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, 15 years on every four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, two years for impersonating a police officer, five years for attempted murder and one year for the assault common.
Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi
NPA Regional Spokesperson
said the court ordered all these sentences to run concurrently with the life sentence.
“The NPA welcomed the conviction and sentence,”Malabi-Dzhangi said.
