PORT ELIZABETH, September 15 (ANA) – Three men convicted of the mob justice “necklace killing†of a Port Elizabeth man, were sentenced to an effective 21 years behind bars in the city’s high court on Thursday.
Judge Gerald Bloem sentenced 41-year-old Cacile Matshoba, 36-year-old Siyabonga Brandy, and 28-year-old Thembinkosi Speelman, to 21 years behind bars on a charge of murder and 4 years imprisonment on a charge of kidnapping. The sentences will run concurrently.
Attorney James Riley who represented Brandy, brought forward an application for leave to appeal in respect of conviction, however this was dismissed by Bloem.
A fourth accused Buyile Matshoba, who turned 18 a month after the crime was committed in June 2012, was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment suspended for 5 years on a charge of kidnapping. Matshoba, who is the son of Cacile, was acquitted on the murder charge.
Judge Bloem said that Buyile had only become an adult four weeks after the crime and that he acted as a child, in the presence of his father.
The men, who hail from Kwanobhule and Motherwell townships, were found guilty earlier this week.
During June 2012 the men, armed with knives and a hammer, set out to look for Zandisile Mana. The men suspected Mana had killed a community member.
The men found Mana at a local tavern and forced him to accompany them. They used knives and a hammer to hit and stab him until he agreed to go with them.
According to court documents, the men tied Mana’s arms and legs and then placed him into a boot of a vehicle.
The court heard that Mana was brutally assaulted to the extent that his jaw and neck tissue had become exposed during the attack. In addition his ear was cut off and a part of his face was flattened as a result of being hammered.
Mana was then placed in the boot of a second car and transported from a house in Kwanobhule to a bushy area between Duduza and Holomisa near Rocklands.
In the bushes tyres were placed in a circle around Mana’s body. He was doused with petrol and set alight until he burnt to death.
Bloem indicated on Thursday that exceptional circumstances existed in order for a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
He took into consideration that upon awaiting trial, the men had been in custody for a lengthy period of time.
-African News Agency (ANA)
