File
A 38-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2019 murder of community patroller, 54-year-old Billy Kleinhans.
Marshal Chabide was also sentenced in the High Court on Monday to five years imprisonment for the possession of a firearm and one year for the possession of ammunition.
Kleinhans, a member of the Bethelsdorp Community Policing Forum, was walking with a 65-year-old friend when, at the corner of Barberry Street, they noticed three men standing against the wall of a shop.
“As they were walking through an open field in Mistletoe Street, they heard gunshots. Kleinhans fell while his friend, aged 63 years old at the time, jumped over a boundary wall,” police said at the time.
“Kleinhans sustained multiple injuries and died on the scene.”
Acting Nelson Mandela Bay District Commissioner, Brigadier Thandiswa Kupiso welcomed the sentence.
“The partnership fostered between community members working in some hotspot areas with the police is appreciated. Although these law-abiding citizens are aware of the risks and dangers associated with their commitment, they remain loyal to the cause of protecting their neighbourhoods against crime and criminals,” she said.
Kupiso described Kleinhans as a person of integrity and “his deeds were a selfless act of patriotism which will be remembered by both the SAPS and the community he fought to protect.”
