the monitor

Why Maxala won't hang

Maxala PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Maxala PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

He was supposed to hang by the neck until he died but the existence of extenuating circumstances as found by the Court of Appeal (CoA) on Friday managed to cancel Nthoiwa Maxala’s date with the executioner.

Maxala who allegedly murdered his assailant Thuso Mlalazi gangster-style in 2015, had been heading for the gallows since 2021 when the High Court sentenced him to death.

Now Maxala will get 30 years in prison instead because the CoA believes that what he did when he fatally shot the former physics teacher was not a cold-blooded calculated murder. When officially taking Maxala off death row, CoA’s Justice Isaac Lesetedi emphasised that Maxala murdered in the heat of anger and resentment and legitimate grievance against the deceased who called his friends to Borolong and got the appellant beaten up for no discernible good reason and without provocation.

Editor's Comment
Depression is real; let's take care of our mental health

It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...

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