The Pietermaritzburg High Court in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) sentenced Songezo Mpulampula (22) to two terms of life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the September 2022 rape and murder of a four-year-old old child in the Harding area. 

LIVED IN THE SAME AREA

In his plea, Mpulampula mentioned that he and the child lived in the same area, and on the day of the incident, he was returning home from drinking at a tavern when he stopped at one of the houses in the area to get something to eat. KZN National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Natasha Ramkisson Kara said that Mpulampula found the child eating a meal with the neighbour and he joined them. "When the neighbour left them alone and went to the bathroom, Mpulampula lured her outside to an abandoned toilet. There he raped her and strangled her thereafter. He took a plastic bag that was on the floor and lit it with matches, allowing the drops of burning plastic to fall onto her body thus, causing her to sustain burnt injuries. He fled the scene and was arrested a few days later in the uMzimkhulu area," she said.

DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE

Kara said that Senior State Advocate Pretty-Girl Ngcobo, handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the child's mother and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Beaufort Shinga. "In her statement, the woman said that her child was bubbly and full of life and did not deserve to die in such a horrible manner. She said that Mpulampula had taken away her child's right to life and right to a future. The woman said that she is not coping with the death and is experiencing flashbacks from the day of the incident. She added that she is very depressed and has had to relocate to another province. The sentences of life imprisonment will run concurrently with each other, thus resulting in an effective sentence of life imprisonment. The court further deemed Mpulampula unfit to possess a firearm," she said.