ZiMoja updates on the latest crime news in parts of the country.
EASTERN CAPE: A suspect who was arrested in connection with the mass shooting of 18 people in Lusikisiki on28 September made his first appearance in the Lusikisiki Magistrate's Court yesterday. Siphosoxolo Myekethe (45) was arrested on Monday at his home in the Mthimde location, in the Mamfengwini area of Lusikisiki. NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said during his brief appearance in court, Myekethe elected to be represented by a Legal Aid attorney and said he will be applying for bail. "The prosecution will be opposing bail against the alleged murderer, who has two previous convictions for escaping from legal custody and murder. He was released on parole for murder," Tyali said. Myekethe is facing 18 charges of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of an unlicensed firearm, an AK47 assault rifle. His case was postponed to next Tuesday, for further criminal profiling, a report from the Correctional Services Department regarding his parole status and possible bail application.
FREE STATE: Moeketsi Lebuso (29) from Senekal in the Free State has been sentenced to three life terms by Bethlehem Regional Court for the rape of three women. This comes after he was found guilty of three counts of rape, robbery and two counts of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. According to the National Prosecuting Authority's Mojalefa Senokotsoane, on 1 November 2016, Lebuso and his two friends followed a 37-year-old victim he knew from a tavern and when they reached a secluded area, they pounced on her and took turns raping her. They then attacked her with stones on the head and tried to gouge her eyes out afterwards. They then left her there bleeding and unconscious.
In a second incident that took place on 20September 2021, Senokotsoane said a man was walking home from a tavern with his 43-year-old girlfriend when they were ambushed by the Lebuso, who hit and injured the boyfriend with a panga and was later joined by his friends, who also joined in attacking the boyfriend. Lebuso then took the girlfriend to a certain house, where he raped her the whole night.
On 4 July 2022, Lebuso met his third victim, a 24-year-old woman who is his distant relative, and was lured away from the tavern under the pretext of accompanying her home to make sure she was safe. On the way home, he forced the victim to go with him to a different location, where he raped her more than once. Lebuso was identified by the victims as they all knew him and he was linked to the crimes through DNA.
KWAZULU NATAL: A former police constable has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars for the murder of his wife by the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Mthokozisi Gregory Nene (44) murdered his wife, Nompilo Thobeka Nene (40), on 22 July 2022, in the Inchanga area. The couple were in an acrimonious marriage, and on the day of the incident, the former cop brought his girlfriend over to their matrimonial home and his wife confronted him about this. NPA KZN spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the confrontation led to an altercation that resulted in the accused fatally shooting his wife in the face with a high-calibre weapon. She died on the scene and the accused was arrested the following day. Ramkisson-Kara said the court was of the view that the aggravating circumstances, including the fact that the accused was a serving police official and that the matter fell within the scope of gender-based violence and intimate partner femicide, warranted a robust sentence.
