Why Maxala won't hang :: Mmegi Online

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.

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