The Knysna Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced a man who murdered his spouse over WhatsApp texts.
State Prosectuor, Candice Simon secured the conviction of Thamsanqa Eric Booi, 45, who beat his spouse, Gqabisa Dayimani, to death with a knobkierie after he found WhatsApp messages on her phone which revealed infidelity.
The incident took place in their home in Happy valley, Knysna on December 26, 2023.
Information before the court was that after the assault on the woman, the couple went to sleep. However, Dayimani was so severely assaulted that she died of her injuries due to internal bleeding.
Simon told the court the couple had four minor children who were being taken care of by their maternal grandmother and aunt who struggle financially to look after the children. She argued about the prevalence and danger of gender-based violence and femicide.
He was sentenced 18 years direct imprisonment. The court further declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
In a separate matter, in the same court, Morne Laminie, 29, was convicted and sentenced for raping an 18-year-old.
The court heard that on February 25, 2023, Laminie broke into the teenager’s house, went to her bedroom and raped her. While the rape was being perpetrated, the court heard the teenager’s grandmother watched Laminie rape her granddaughter but could not help her.
Laminie pleaded not guilty to the charge against him and blamed the crime on his friend who is the teenager’s cousin and lived in the house where the rape took place.
Laminie was sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment. The court declared him unfit to posses a firearm and ordered his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell decried the spate of gender-based violence and femicide and said all cases of sexual violence encroach on the rights to dignity and privacy of the victims as enshrined in our Constitution hence the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) aggressively prosecutes these cases. She added that it can never be over emphasised how important human life is and therefore the NPA will continue to vigorously pursue these cases to serve as deterrent to murderers.