A former police officer has been convicted and sentenced in the Polokwane High Court in Limpopo.
Lesiba Machabaphala, 29, who was attached to the police’s Protection Security Services unit, was convicted of the murder of 15-year-old Dimakatso Alicia Mohlaloga, attempted murder, failure to lock away a firearm, malicious damage to property, endangering lives and defeating the ends of justice.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the former police officer and the victim stayed at the same homestead.
On October 2, 2020, Machabaphala was moving around in the house carrying his firearm.
The court heard he fired 14 shots at the door where the girl and her mother were sleeping. The door leading to the teen’s room was damaged and one of the bullets struck her.
The court also heard how Machabaphala refused for the teen to be taken to the hospital. Instead, he instructed one of the witnesses to transport him, his wife, and his child away from the scene. He hid his firearm at a nearby shelter.
During the trial, Machabaphala pleaded not guilty.
During mitigation, after his conviction, his defence counsel submitted that Machabaphala was a first-time offender, the breadwinner, and a father of two minor children who had since lost his job and had been in custody since 2020.
In aggravation of sentence, State advocate Ronald Sithada submitted to the court that Machabaphala had shown no remorse and only admitted to killing the teen during mitigation for a lesser sentence.
Sithada said the teen’s mother had lost her only child and while the community hoped to get protection from Machabaphala as a police officer, he instead killed one of their own.
The State called for a life imprisonment sentence as there were no substantial or compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
The court subsequently sentenced Machabaphala to 25 years’ imprisonment for murder, one year in prison for malicious damage to property, five years in prison for attempted murder, two years in prison for failure to lock away his firearm in a prescribed manner, two years in prison for endangering the lives of others by shooting negligently, and five years in prison for defeating the ends of justice.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Ivy Thenga said the NPA welcomed the sentences and hoped it sent a strong message that no one was above the law.
-IOL
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