Staff Reporter
The Free State High Court sitting in Bethlehem has handed down long prison sentences in two cases involving gender-based violence.
In one case, the accused was sentenced to two life terms, while in the other, the accused was slapped with a 30-year prison term.
In the first case, heard on Tuesday, the accused, Raphepane Petrus Tsolo, 46, fatally stabbed his wife, Mookgo Anna Mzizi, 34, with a knife.
The court heard that Tsolo handed himself over to the police in Senekal after stabbing his wife several times.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement the woman’s body was found near the Clinic in Matwabeng, Senekal.
Tsolo was charged with premeditated murder and was denied bail until his case was finalised and was sentenced to 30 years direct imprisonment.
In the other case heard on Wednesday, Mpho Majoba, 29, a Lesotho national, faced a total of four charges including rape and attempted murder.
According to the state, he kidnapped a woman on March 29 this year in Rosendal before attacking and raping her.
The victim however managed to crawl from the bushes where she was brutally attacked and sought help after the incident.
Majoba slit the throat of the victim before he raped and robbed her of her two cellphones.
She managed to crawl to the road where she was assisted by a farmer who called an ambulance and the matter was reported to the police.
Because she was struggling to speak, she managed to write on a piece of paper and gave a description of the suspect.
This led to the arrest of Majoba on the same day.
He made his first appearance on April 6, and remained behind bars until he was sentenced.
On the first charge of attempted murder, he got 10 years’ imprisonment.
On the second one of rape, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He got three years on the third charge of kidnapping.
The fourth charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances earned him 15 years in jail.
All sentences will run concurrently.
Free State Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane welcomed the convictions and sentences, saying: “The sentencing came at the right time for gender-based violence perpetrators and will send a strong and clear message to would-be criminals that crime against women and children doesn’t pay as justice will always prevail.”