Your home is the one place where you should feel safe and out of harms way. But this was not the case for a Bronkhorspruit taxi boss who was killed in his home in 2019.
Lawrence Twala was home, in Zithobeni Bronkhorstspruit, with four of his friends when hit man Sibusiso Mtshali (29) and two unknown accomplices arrived and started to fire several shots at them and left.
“Lawrence died on the scene while Kagiso Zachariah Rampou died in hospital while two other victims sustained gunshot wounds,” the Pretoria High Court heard.
Sibusiso was arrested on 24 March 2022 at Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court where he was appearing on a separate matter of murder and has been in custody since then.
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In court, he pleaded not guilty to the charges he was facing.
During mitigation of sentence through his attorney, Sibusiso asked the court to consider his age when imposing the sentence and further asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence.
However, in aggravation, prosecutor Advocate Sipho Lalane, argued that Mtshali showed no remorse for his actions.
“He had ample time to change his mind while driving from Johannesburg to Bronkhorspruit but did not. He killed one of the deceased at the comfort of his home.”
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Advocate Lalane also read into the record the victim impact statements facilitated by the court preparation officer Lebogang Lebese. The victims and their families indicated how Sibusiso’s actions emotionally, physically and psychologically affected them. One of the victim’s legs had to be amputated because of the incident.
Judge Joseph Masopa did not deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
“Courts are the only hope for society as this crime of contract murder is rife in the country therefore, courts must find a way to deal with them.”
Sibusiso was then sentenced to two life terms for two counts of premeditated murder, 15 years for three counts of attempted murder, six years for possession of a firearm and 3 years for possession of ammunition.
