Justice must not leave families in the ruins

The Monitor Editor | Wednesday April 1, 2026 06:00

With the Court of Appeal confirming the death sentence, it closes the judicial chapter on a cold and calculated killing driven by greed over a P50,000 insurance payout. But on Friday, a far more painful truth was laid bare for all to see. The justice system often stops its work just when a family’s deepest wounds begin to bleed. Outside the courtroom, tragedy within a tragedy was a witnessed tragedy. Marks ‘Kganka’ Ofentse, the victim’s brother, desperately sought a moment to ask his cousin a simple question, “Why?”

Meanwhile, Agnes Ofentse, the killer’s mother and the victim’s aunt, sat sobbing at the entrance.

Instead of finding solace, these two relatives, who are bound by blood, exchanged accusations and anger. One accused the other of watching a murder unfold whilst the other cried of being shut out.

This is the ruins this case has left behind. The State proved its case, the conviction was sound, and a killer was brought to justice. But what of the family left behind?

They are not just victims and perpetrators. They are siblings, aunts, and cousins who must somehow find a way to exist as a family after such devastation.

This is where the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services and other stakeholders in government must step in. The duty of judicial officials cannot end with the handing down of a sentence.

The Ministry has a moral obligation to look beyond the prison walls and into the living rooms of families torn apart by crime. We call on them to always take the families of both the victim and the perpetrator into consideration, especially when they are one and the same.

Too often, families are left in the dark, forced to navigate their grief alone whilst battling the confusion of a legal system they do not understand.

We see it here, a brother who cannot get closure, a mother who is shunned for her son’s sins, and a family splintered by silence and rage.

The Ministry must implement mandatory reconciliation and counselling programmes for affected families. Before tempers flare outside courtrooms, trained counsellors should be there to help these relatives speak to one another.

We cannot simply convict and move on. We must help families get over these situations so they do not end up killing each other emotionally or otherwise.