Man Gets 12-Year Sentence for Stabbing Co-worker 37 Times to Death, SA Says Justice System Is a Joke

• A 29-year-old man who stabbed his co-worker 37 times has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment
• The Balfour regional court found Lerato Kalaku guilty of Lindani Ephraim Mhlungu’s murder that occurred in 2021
• According to police, Kalaku stabbed Mhlungu in his upper body, and he was certified dead on the scene

MPUMALANGA - A 29-year-old man who stabbed his co-worker 37 times has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for murder. The gruesome attack occurred on a farm in Greylingstad in Mpumalanga last year.

The sentence was handed down at the Balfour regional court after Lerato Kalaku was found guilty of Lindani Ephraim Mhlungu’s murder. The victim sustained a skull fracture and broken neck during the attack.

According to TimesLIVE, the pair worked together and lived in the same house on the farm. Police Spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said they were fixing a fence together when an altercation broke out and turned violent.

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Kalaku stabbed Mhlungu 37 times in his upper body, and he was certified dead on the scene. Mohlala said the killer was arrested eight hours after the murder.

IOL reported that Kalaku is a Lesotho national who was in the country illegally.

Mpumalanga Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Semakaleng Manamela applauded the detective team, prosecution and the judiciary's role in the sentencing.

South Africans were unimpressed with the sentence:

@robmartza said:

“12 years only? Our justice system....eish.”

@JabulaniFarmerM wrote:

“What a joke!”

@Constitution_94 commented:

“12 years!? This country is a bloody joke!”

@Mnyara_Dumani05 posted:

“12 years is too small he deserves 25 years in prison.”

@Tebzarola added:

“12 years. He will probably be out in 7 if not 6 years. He should have gotten a year for every stab.”

Primary school pupil, 15, arrested for stabbing fellow schoolmate to death in the Free State Province

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In a related matter, Briefly News also reported A primary school student, aged 15, has been arrested for stabbing a fellow school pupil to death in the Free State province.

The pupil from Zama Primary School is now expected to make a court appearance at a local Magistrate’s court.

It has been alleged that the killer had been bullying the deceased pupil for quite some time before the stabbing incident.

Source: Briefly News