VUYO MKIZE
H IS BIG eyes looked curiously around at the strangers walking up and down the second floor of the Johannesburg High Court’s corridors.
Dressed in a warm grey jersey, Lebo (not his real name), 10, playfully skipped around the corridor yesterday morning, not too far from his mother Thandi’s (not her real name) gaze. A large scar across his little neck became visible as he pulled his jersey over his head.
That scar will be a constant reminder of the night of September 24 last year, when he almost died.
That night, Lebo, 31, had had an argument with her former boyfriend, John Clifford Motlhamme, 34, at a tavern in Meadowlands, not far from her house.
Motlhamme had accused her of having an affair and, in a fit of rage, bit her cheek.
But Motlhamme’s rage did not stop there. Little did Thandi know that, after he stormed away from the tavern, he would run off to her Meadowlands home, where he slit the throats of her two sons, Ronald, 6, and Lebo. Ronald died at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital four days later.
On Monday, Motlhamme pleaded guilty in the Johannesburg High Court to charges relating to his attempted murder of Lebo, assaulting Thandi with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and murdering Ronald.
Yesterday afternoon, Judge Majake Mabesele spent just under 30 minutes handing down a concise sentence to Motlhamme for the crimes.
“The reason of his conduct was to hurt Thandi. My understanding, therefore, is that the accused carefully planned to murder. What aggravates the matter is that the accused attacked innocent children who, at the time, were enjoying their sleep,” he said.
Judge Mabesele explained that, according to a medical report, Lebo had a single, 4cm slash across his neck, while a post-mortem done on Ronald revealed that he died as a result of “a penetrating incision wound to the neck”.
It also emerged in court that Motlhamme had previous convictions of assault and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Judge Mabesele said the fact that Motlhamme was unemployed and had only a Grade 9 education did not amount to special or compelling circumstances to lessen his sentence.
“It is so that society expects courts to give concise punishment to people who commit murder. It is also so that the punishment should fit the crime…
“The accused is sentenced to life in prison for count one (murder), eight years’ imprisonment for count two (attempted murder) and a R2 000 fine or 18 months in prison for count three (assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm),” Judge Mabesele said.
An application for leave to appeal, lodged by Motlhamme’s lawyer immediately after the sentence, was quickly dismissed by the judge.
Thandi, who had been quiet during proceedings, broke down in tears outside the courtroom as relatives tried to comfort her.
She declined to comment.