Murderer deserves to die
An angry South African judge has risked his job security by speaking out on crime.
Struggling to hide his contempt as he stared at the murderer of four-year-old Makgabo Matlala, a furious Judge Gerhardus Hattingh said it was "nonsense" that the country's crime rate was going down.
"According to the minister of safety and security Charles Nqakula, crime is down and the future is rosy. This, with respect, and I must choose my words wisely, is nonsense," Hattingh said in an extraordinary address to a packed Vereeniging regional court room as he sentenced Makgabo's murderer Johannes Siphiwe Molefe to two life sentences for her death and for raping her nanny.
He also gave 22-year-old Molefe a 20-year sentence for robbery, while sentencing 21-year-old Lucky Ndlovu to a life sentence for the repeated rape of Makgabo's nanny.
Steve Mhlanga, who was with the men when they robbed the Matlala home but did not participate in the rape or murder, received 20 years in jail for robbery and a concurrent 10-year jail term for being an accessory to murder.
Still, for Hattingh the sentences he handed down to the men were not enough to punish them for their horrific crimes - he wished he could sentence them to death.
"In my experience, all right-thinking members of the community, regardless of race, are in favour of the death penalty. Government must take responsibility for ending the rampant crime wave engulfing our country... and it's now time something drastic is done about crime," said Hattingh.
"Just like South Africa was freed from the yoke of apartheid, South Africa must be freed from the yoke of crime."
While acknowledging that the Constitutional Court had found that the death penalty violated the human right to life, Hattingh questioned why "the victim's right to life can just be summarily taken away by the criminal".
He described as "sick" the operation of South Africa's justice system where criminals given life sentences "go out on parole after 18 years".
He stressed that his comments were not political but rather motivated by his desire to do his duty.
His comments, though, angered government ranks, with Nqakula's spokesperson Trevor Bloem saying the judge has crossed his judicial boundary by "dabbling in politics".
"He is totally exceeding his mandate. Just as politicians and the executive should not interfere in the sphere of the judiciary, it would suit the judges to do the same and not interfere in the political sphere," Bloem said.
It was an emotional day, however, on which Makgabo's family cared little for politics, but tried to somehow move on with lives shattered by their devastating loss.
Makgabo's grandfather, Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, and her father Steve, a Springs magistrate, declined to comment on Hattingh's call for a death penalty referendum.
In court as Hattingh detailed the horrific details of Makgabo's suffocation murder and the gang rape ordeal of her nanny, 57, Ngoepe struggled to contain his emotions, while tears streamed down his son-in-law's face.
The Judge President told reporters after the sentencing that his family wished to "get on with our lives".
"We would hope that from now, friends and relatives would refrain from conveying their condolences ... it is time for us to heal," said an emotional Ngoepe, flanked by his wife Daphne and his son-in-law Matlala.
He said the judge imposed a maximum sentence that was suitable, but that nothing could justify the murder of his grandchild and the rape of her nanny.
With tear-filled eyes, Makgabo's father said "my child is gone, she will never come back".
Ngoepe said he hoped Makgabo's death and that of other children would awaken the nation to fight the scourge.
Referring to argument from Molefe and Ndlovu's lawyers that they should be shown mercy because of their disadvantaged and difficult childhoods, Ngoepe said poverty could never be a justification for murder or rape.
Looking straight at Molefe and Ndlovu as he handed down his sentence, Hattingh said: "You could just have tied up the (domestic worker) and locked the child in a room. But that wasn't enough for you.
"(Makgabo) was a helpless, defenceless four-year-old who cried because she heard noises in the house and couldn't find her nanny. You (Molefe) with the co-operation of (Ndlovu) walked over, picked her up and tied her little hands together, stuffed an item of clothing into her mouth and wrapped her father's pants around her head.
"By then she must have been dead quiet... but that was not enough for you," Hattingh said, before adding, "you put a double bed mattress on top of her to push her against the floor... you wanted to be sure that she was dead so she couldn't disturb your robbery of the house.
"One can scarcely imagine what angst and fear this little girl must have felt as she was dying."
The judge requested Molefe and Ndlovu only be considered parole after they served 40 years in jail. Read more
Struggling to hide his contempt as he stared at the murderer of four-year-old Makgabo Matlala, a furious Judge Gerhardus Hattingh said it was "nonsense" that the country's crime rate was going down.
"According to the minister of safety and security Charles Nqakula, crime is down and the future is rosy. This, with respect, and I must choose my words wisely, is nonsense," Hattingh said in an extraordinary address to a packed Vereeniging regional court room as he sentenced Makgabo's murderer Johannes Siphiwe Molefe to two life sentences for her death and for raping her nanny.
He also gave 22-year-old Molefe a 20-year sentence for robbery, while sentencing 21-year-old Lucky Ndlovu to a life sentence for the repeated rape of Makgabo's nanny.
Steve Mhlanga, who was with the men when they robbed the Matlala home but did not participate in the rape or murder, received 20 years in jail for robbery and a concurrent 10-year jail term for being an accessory to murder.
Still, for Hattingh the sentences he handed down to the men were not enough to punish them for their horrific crimes - he wished he could sentence them to death.
"In my experience, all right-thinking members of the community, regardless of race, are in favour of the death penalty. Government must take responsibility for ending the rampant crime wave engulfing our country... and it's now time something drastic is done about crime," said Hattingh.
"Just like South Africa was freed from the yoke of apartheid, South Africa must be freed from the yoke of crime."
While acknowledging that the Constitutional Court had found that the death penalty violated the human right to life, Hattingh questioned why "the victim's right to life can just be summarily taken away by the criminal".
He described as "sick" the operation of South Africa's justice system where criminals given life sentences "go out on parole after 18 years".
He stressed that his comments were not political but rather motivated by his desire to do his duty.
His comments, though, angered government ranks, with Nqakula's spokesperson Trevor Bloem saying the judge has crossed his judicial boundary by "dabbling in politics".
"He is totally exceeding his mandate. Just as politicians and the executive should not interfere in the sphere of the judiciary, it would suit the judges to do the same and not interfere in the political sphere," Bloem said.
It was an emotional day, however, on which Makgabo's family cared little for politics, but tried to somehow move on with lives shattered by their devastating loss.
Makgabo's grandfather, Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, and her father Steve, a Springs magistrate, declined to comment on Hattingh's call for a death penalty referendum.
In court as Hattingh detailed the horrific details of Makgabo's suffocation murder and the gang rape ordeal of her nanny, 57, Ngoepe struggled to contain his emotions, while tears streamed down his son-in-law's face.
The Judge President told reporters after the sentencing that his family wished to "get on with our lives".
"We would hope that from now, friends and relatives would refrain from conveying their condolences ... it is time for us to heal," said an emotional Ngoepe, flanked by his wife Daphne and his son-in-law Matlala.
He said the judge imposed a maximum sentence that was suitable, but that nothing could justify the murder of his grandchild and the rape of her nanny.
With tear-filled eyes, Makgabo's father said "my child is gone, she will never come back".
Ngoepe said he hoped Makgabo's death and that of other children would awaken the nation to fight the scourge.
Referring to argument from Molefe and Ndlovu's lawyers that they should be shown mercy because of their disadvantaged and difficult childhoods, Ngoepe said poverty could never be a justification for murder or rape.
Looking straight at Molefe and Ndlovu as he handed down his sentence, Hattingh said: "You could just have tied up the (domestic worker) and locked the child in a room. But that wasn't enough for you.
"(Makgabo) was a helpless, defenceless four-year-old who cried because she heard noises in the house and couldn't find her nanny. You (Molefe) with the co-operation of (Ndlovu) walked over, picked her up and tied her little hands together, stuffed an item of clothing into her mouth and wrapped her father's pants around her head.
"By then she must have been dead quiet... but that was not enough for you," Hattingh said, before adding, "you put a double bed mattress on top of her to push her against the floor... you wanted to be sure that she was dead so she couldn't disturb your robbery of the house.
"One can scarcely imagine what angst and fear this little girl must have felt as she was dying."
The judge requested Molefe and Ndlovu only be considered parole after they served 40 years in jail. Read more
posted by Jopie Fourie at 3:00 AM
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