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Man sentenced to life in jail for brutal murder of girlfriend
A high court judge cited the prevalence of gender based violence in the country when handing down a life sentence for the murder.
Image via Adobe Stock
Jan Lepapiki Mafa, 50, has been sentenced to life in jail for the brutal murder of his former girlfriend after she refused to get back together with him.
Mafa, of Kloporo near Siyabuswa was handed his sentence in the Middleburg High Court in Mpumalanga after he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Mapula Moremi, in September 2019.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, said Mafa and Moremi had been in a relationship since 2004.
“At some stage, Mafa left Moremi and when he returned he demanded the relationship to continue as normal. Moremi objected,” Nyuswa said.
Nyuswa said that on the day of the murder Mafa had gone to the house where Moremi was living in Mdutjana and found her two grandchildren and her friend there.
“He enquired about the whereabouts of Moremi and he was told that she was in the bedroom. He instructed Moremi to leave with him but she refused. Moremi threatened that he will call the police,” she said.
“Mafa refused to leave, instead he went to the kitchen, took a knife and stabbed Moremi in front of the grandchildren several times and she died instantly. He further took her purse from her handbag with an undisclosed amount of money, a bag of snacks and fled the scene on foot.”
Six months later, the police found Mafa in his hideout in Mamelodi informal settlement where he was arrested for murder. He pleaded not guilty.
State Advocate, Mmamphai Tshwane led the testimonies of two eye witnesses and submitted a victim impact statement. The statement revealed the deep trauma suffered by her the grandchildren who failed their school year as a result of the horror killing.
In arguing for sentencting Tshwane told the court that Mafa had not shown remorse for his actions and highlighted the prevalence of the scourge of gender-based violence in society.
Judge, Hein Brauckman said violence by men towards women is endemic in the country. He said SA’s femicide rate was five times higher than the global average, therefore it was the court’s duty of to impose harsh sentences to recognise the seriousness of the situation. He sentenced Mafa to 25 years imprisonment for murder and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances. He ordered the sentences to run concurrently, resulting in an effective sentence of 25 years in jail.
