Sindisiwe Manqele, sentenced to 12 years for killing her rap star boyfriend Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi was on Thursday granted bail by the Johannesburg High Court pending her application to appeal.
Acting Judge Solly Sithole had earlier sentenced the 27-year-old Manqele to jail for murder, and ordered her to attend life skills and anger management programmes as part of her sentence.
Manqele’s lawyer Norman Makhubela told the court immediately after sentencing that his client would lodge an appeal. He subsequently lodged a new bail application for Manqele, who had been granted a R10,000 bail following her arrest.
Prosecutor Paul Schutter had argued against bail for Manqele, and said there was no need for her to have freedom of movement while waiting for her appeal to be heard.
“The accused should start her sentence immediately, there is no need for her to consult with anyone else now that she has been sentenced,” argued Schutter.
Sithole granted Manqele a total of R25,000 bail and ordered that she be required to wear a tracking device and report at the
Midrand police station twice a week.
Although a murder conviction carried a sentence of not less than 15 years, Sithole said he found compelling circumstances in the case to not hand down the maximum sentence as required by the law.
“There was a highly charged confrontation that day between the accused and the deceased, which had started from the Sands in Sandton and ended in that bedroom. Both of you were the victims of that confrontation, had there been no confrontation, Habedi could not have been killed.
“Again, you tried to apply CPR on Habedi to resuscitate him until you were helpless and could not succeed. That to me showed the level of regret and shock from you,” the judge said.
He said Manqele was also a victim of mutual jealousy, and had a history of possessive and abusive relationships.
“As presented in the psychologist’s report, you are not an inherently an evil person and there is a good chance you can be rehabilitated. Rehabilitation starts with you, you must admit that what you did was wrong and be ready for rehabilitation,” said Sithole.
He added that Manqele was a first time offender with no criminal record.
“These are the compelling circumstances I find in your case,” he said.
Schutter indicated that the State would oppose Manqele’s application for leave to appeal, set to be heard on 12 April. – African News Agency (ANA)
