Murder, arson convict appeals 44-year sentence

Last year, Selebogo was convicted for an attack on his girlfriend and her parents, during which he also set property alight. Selebogo was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s father and attempting to kill his girlfriend and her mother, as well as arson. He received six years for arson, 12 years in total for the two attempted murder charges and 18 years for the murder of his girlfriend’s father.

The sentences, which amount to 44 years in prison, were to run concurrently with effect from April 15 2014. Appearing before the Court Of Appeal (CoA) bench consisting of justices Monametsi Gaongalelwe, Isaac Lesetedi and Abednego Tafa, Selebogo through his attorney Onalethata Kambai, argued that for the charge of murder there was no eyewitness account of how the deceased met his fate.  Kambai submitted that Selebogo had testified that he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed the deceased. “He stabbed the deceased after a fight ensued between him and the deceased, with the deceased being an aggressor according to the accused’s uncontroverted version,” Kambai argued.