A married couple and a hired hitman will each serve a life term behind bars after they plotted and executed the murder of the husband’s rape victim a day before she was to testify in court.
The murder carried a meagre R10 000 price tag.
The sentencing was handed down in the Western Cape High Court this week by Judge James Lekhuleni, who emphasised that “femicide and gender-based violence remain a scourge that continues to ravage our country to its core”.
“This case exemplifies the gravity and depth of this unrelenting problem,” said Lekhuleni.
Cebisa Bhala (wife), Mmeli Kheswa (husband), and Mlungisi Ntsalaz (hitman) were convicted in May last year on charges of murder, possession of unlicensed firearms, and possession of ammunition.
Kheswa - a repeat offender of the Sexual Offences Act who was previously convicted of causing a child to be in his presence while he engaged in sexual intercourse - was detained on a charge of rape and awaiting trial at the Pollsmoor Prison. This is where he met fellow prison gang member, Ntsalaz, who was also detained for rape.
While in prison, Ntsalaz informed Kheswa that he could arrange to kill the rape complainant, so that the charges against him could be withdrawn.
Kheswa then agreed with this suggestion and then called his wife to inform her that his fellow detainee and who belonged to the same prison gang as himself, promised to help him by killing the rape victim.
Ntsalaz was released from prison on his matter on June 27, 2017, and committed the murder of the rape victim, who was the State’s key witness, a day after his release.
“The facts of this matter are so deeply unsettling to describe. The life of a vibrant young woman was brutally and abruptly ended for a sheer sum of R10 000 pursuant to a tripartite conspiracy to murder agreement concluded by the three accused,” said Lekhuleni.
According to the judgment, on June 29, 2017, the investigating officer of the rape case went to the residence of the complainant, to pick her up to testify in the regional court.
“Upon arrival, the complainant’s mother informed him that the complainant was shot and killed on the night before the trial date. (The investigating officer) proceeded to court to notify the senior prosecutor of what happened.
“According to the investigating officer, as a result of the complainant’s death, the Regional Court in Cape Town withdrew the charges against Kheswa, and he was subsequently released from prison,” the judgment read.
Following intensive investigation which included WhatsApp chats between the wife and hitman, the trio were all linked to the murder and arrested a month after the murder.
Lekhuleni said: “Given the current levels of violence and serious crimes in our country, it seems proper that, in sentencing especially such crimes, the emphasis should be retribution and deterrence. Deterrence has two aspects: deterring the prisoner and deterring others.
“Although it is correct that an accused should not be sacrificed on the altar of deterrence, it becomes necessary from time to time for the courts to send a strong message to society and would-be offenders to curb the proliferation of crimes.
“The seriousness of the crime depends upon the outlook of society, the indignation with which the crime is held in the eyes of society. In other words, the more repugnant a crime is in the eyes of society, the more public outrage is elicited, and the greater the punishment should ideally be.
“It is against this backdrop that this court considers the seriousness of the crime committed by the three accused… What is particularly heinous in this case is the fact that the murder was deliberately planned in the prison cells and purposely executed by tragically taking the complainant’s life.
“It bears emphasis that the way the manner in which the murder was planned and executed generates a profound sense of disgust and condemnation,” said Lekhuleni.