Staff Reporter
The man who went on the run for 15 years after allegedly killing a farmer and her employee in 2004 has been sentenced to two life sentences by the Bethlehem Magistrates Court.
Thapelo Samuel Mokoena, 41, from Makwane Village in QwaQwa, evaded the police on several occasions but his luck finally ran out on August 28, 2020 when a team led by Detective Warrant Officer Nkosana Radebe pounced on him at his hideout at Hlanganani Mine in Driefontein, near Carletonville, Gauteng province.
Mokoena, 40, who also went by the name Mlangeni, was facing charges of murder, attempted murder and escaping from lawful custody just a day before he was to be sentenced.
This follows an incident which happened on August 23, 2004 when Mokoena and his three accomplices went to Dankbaarheid Farm in Bethlehem and brutally murdered Johanna Katherine van Niekerk, then 79, and her gardener Tololo Elias Tsholo, who was 43.
They also attacked two domestic workers where one was missed by a bullet and another one shot in the hip.
The suspects were however forced to flee the scene without stealing anything as police reacted swiftly to the incident.
The four were arrested shortly not far from the farm.
The other three accused were found guilty and sentenced, while Mokoena fled from lawful custody in Makwane on July 28, 2005.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement Mokoena was listed as one of the top 50 most wanted suspects nationally and top 30 in the Free State.
“. . . he was sentenced to two life sentences for the two murders and 10 years each for each of the two attempted murders. The sentences will run concurrently,” he said.