Murder Case Law Could Favour Nephew

Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday December 7, 2021 06:00

 

Murder Case Law Could Favour Nephew

Mbunyane met his death after he uttered words to the effect that his nephew, Bareki, had a disease that he could potentially transmit for having such a propensity for sleeping around with older women in Jamataka village, mentioning his own wife Tekanyo Mbunyane amongst them.

This possible scenario was alluded to on Friday when Bareki’s attorney, Charles Tlagae made mitigatory submissions before Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo. “This offence occurred in 2005 at approximately 10pm at a drinking hole where the accused, deceased and his wife were drinking a traditional beverage. It is apparent in the facts that all patrons at the drinking hole were drunk...” “On that night it is clear that without any justification, the accused uttered words that provoked the accused.

It is also clear that Letang assaulted the accused with fists after he (deceased) uttered some unpalatable words to the accused. Naturally, the accused was provoked by the conduct of Letang which led him to hit Letang with a mud-brick and thereafter stab him once with a knife on the chest,” said Tlagae.

Factors that could be distilled as mitigatory factors in this case are: the deceased was aggressive, his conduct was unreasonable, especially that he was aged 64 and fell squarely in the age bracket of older people who are supposed to be the moral compass of younger generations. “According to the facts, the deceased met his fate after he uttered unpalatable words to the accused and thereafter he even went further by assaulting the accused, which caused a feud between them.

Had the deceased not assaulted the accused, this offence would not have happened,” Tlagae submitted.

Tlagae said that Bareki pleaded guilty to the offence and did not waste the court’s time although belatedly.

The attorney added that Bareki has already spent seven years and four months while awaiting trial. Citing case law in a matter that bears similarities to the Bareki case, Tlagae said that Justice Lot Moroka recently sentenced a son who unintentionally killed his father to four years in jail for the offence. Should Nyamadzabo decide to rule whether there are extenuating factors in Bareki’s case based on the sentence of the case that was passed by Moroka, it means that Bareki, who is currently incarcerated, will walk free since he has already spent more than seven years in jail, three years more than in the Moroka case sentencing.