49 -Year-Old Man Gets Life Sentence for Stabbing Girlfriend to Death, SA Reacts: “Bring Back Death Penalty”

• A man who killed his girlfriend in Mpumalanga was got a life sentence by the High Court on Friday
• The murder took place in 2020 after the couple got into an argument that resulted in the 49-year-old man stabbing her
• South Africans online are not happy with the sentencing and are calling for the death penalty to be reinstated

MPUMALANGA - A 49-year-old man got a life sentence from the Middelburg High Court for killing his girlfriend on 29 September 2020.

Lefadi Chego confessed to murdering 35-year-old Zama Zithobile Maphisa after they had a heated argument during their day trip in Mpumalanga.

Chego claimed they became estranged after Maphisa birthed their daughter in 2020 and became disrespectful to him and his family reported Times Live.

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He invited the deceased on a date in Verena to try and work things out, but their argument became combative, leading to him stabbing her.

“When he realised that the deceased was no longer breathing, he abandoned the deceased’s lifeless body in the resort and threw the murder weapon away."

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa further added that Chego gave the deceased's cousin her mobile phone and handbag and lied that she was in a hospital in Mpumalanga.

A month later, Chego came clean about murdering her, and the police only found her empty skull.

On Friday, judge Thando Mankge sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for murder, and he will also serve five years for obstructing justice. The sentences will be served at the same time by Chego.

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South Africans weighed in on the news online:

Siyanda Sithole wrote:

"They make it sound like that is justice. A person whose life was taken never receives justice. Justice will be when everyone is safe from being killed or abused by anyone."

Rudeness K Mabunda shared:

"Five years later he will be eligible for parole."

Ndiitwani Aifheli added:

"He deserves the death penalty and not life. He is going to come back and find love and kill again."

Irene Yiannos posted:

"BRING BACK THE DEATH SENTENCE!"

Dominic Eto'o Princy Baloyi mentioned:

"We will still witness such cases until the death penalty is reimplemented. A life sentence in prison benefitting from our tax ain't enough."

Reggie Coolee Mogane suggested:

"Throw those keys in the ocean."

Jeffrey Godide said:

"Fellow Compatriots join the death penalty amendment campaigns! "

Man charged with murder after "slapping" after daughter, appears in court

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Briefly News recently reported that a father whose daughter allegedly died after he slapped her made his first appearance at the Ogies magistrate’s court on Tuesday, 13 September.

Police arrested the man, Fannie Mtshali, on a murder charge on Saturday, 10 September. According to police, the father and his 24-year-old child had an argument which turned physical.

Source: Briefly News