Times Of Swaziland: Killer sentenced to hang 

Killer sentenced to hang
================================================================================
 LINDA JELE on 29/11/2012 00:00:00


MBABANE – The High Court has pronounced another death sentence by hanging
after that of serial killer David Simelane.
Ironically, he is also a Simelane.
Judge Nkululeko Hlophe has sentenced hit man Mciniseli Jomo Simelane to death
and ordered that he shall hang by the neck until death.
Simelane was convicted of killing a seven-month-old baby when he set alight a
house in which it was in after he did not find the father whom he had been hired
to kill. The incident took place at Etimphandzeni in the Shiselweni region on
July 22, 2009.
Simelane had been hired by one Ncobile Shabangu to kill Veli Mamba a suspect in
the death of her husband who had been burnt inside his car.
Mamba is alleged to have been arrested and upon admission to bail he boasted
that he would never be convicted of the said offence.
Revenge
This seemed to irk Shabangu who then engaged on a revenge mission. She hired her
relative, Simelane and they bought petrol from Nhlangano with the plan to set
Mamba alight together with his vehicles.
The High Court was told that she directed Simelane to Mamba’s homestead and
remained in a neighbourhood waiting for him to finish the job.
However, Simelane did not find Mamba home, instead he found his wife,
25-year-old Tenele Samkeliso Sacolo, her seven-month-old baby and two other
children asleep.
He decided to rape and assault Sacolo, hack a 15-year-old and thereafter set
alight the house with the minor inside.
Simelane and Shabangu were represented by lawyer Sipho Simelane who had been
hired by the state and appearing for the Crown was Crown Counsel Stanley
Dlamini.
Simelane was charged with murder, attempted murder and rape of Sacolo, arson as
well as assault. He was convicted in all of the charges.
Shabangu was also convicted of all of the offences for acting in common purpose,
but the rape offence.
"In my view, the death of the baby Cololwakhe Mamba, was the most barbaric,
cruel and gruesome way of ending one’s life, let alone that of an innocent
child," Judge Hlophe said.
Intention
He dismissed Simelane’s defence that he did not have the intention to kill the
child and had not been aware it was inside.
The judge said evidence showed that he knew of the child’s presence as it had
been crying during the whole duration of the ordeal. Judge Hlophe said
Simelane’s sprinkling of the bed with petrol was inconsistent with an
unplanned burning of the house and the child whom he knew was there when he
wrestled with its mother out of the house during the hacking.
Killed
Hlophe said it did not matter much if Simelane killed a different person from
the one he had set out to end a life of, as long as death was foreseeable as a
possibility.
He said there was no hesitation that Simelane foresaw the possibility of any
occupants dying when he entered the house with petrol and sprinkled it on the
bed.
He found that there were no circumstances reducing the moral blameworthiness on
Simelane in respect of the murder charge. Simelane and Shabangu had been out on
bail.
"The first accused is sentenced to death. Accordingly, Mr Simelane, you are to
be returned to custody and you shall hang by your neck until you die. May God
have mercy on your soul," Judge Hlophe said.
He found that Simelane had the intention to kill Sacolo as he had told her so
upon entry into the house.
He said attempted murder occurs where the accused, while intending to kill, sets
to do so, but does not consummate the act, due to interference or failure to
execute the act with the necessary skill.
Murder
"I am convinced that attempted murder has been proved against the first accused
(Simelane). He used a bush knife against the complainant and directed it at a
delicate part of her body, the head and forehead," Judge Hlophe said.
He also found that Simelane did commit rape and further assaulted her
15-year-old son with the blade of a bush knife.
Simelane was also sentenced for the other offences as well. He said all
sentences shall run concurrently since they arose from the same transaction.
THE SENTENCES
l MURDER - Death sentence and to be hanged.
l Attempted Murder – 10 years imprisonment.
l RAPE – 20 years imprisonment
l ARSON – Five years imprisonment.
l Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – Two years imprisonment.
... author of death incidents gets 35yrs
MBABANE – The author of the death incident Nqobile Shabangu has been sentenced
to 35 years imprisonment for the three offences.
However, she will effectively spend 20 years behind bars, because High Court
Judge Nkululeko Hlophe ordered that the sentences for the various offences
should run concurrently.
This, Judge Hlophe said, was because they arose from the same incident.
Hired
He said Shabangu had stated her role, that she hired Mciniseli Simelane, to kill
one Veli Mamba for an alleged connection to the death of her husband.
He said the motive why she did so was immaterial, but it sufficed that she acted
in common purpose.
"The reality is that she had actively taken part in the planning of the killing
of a human being.
Death
"It should not matter, in my view, whether a different person other than the one
intended to be killed was killed if the death of such person was a reasonable
possibility.
"I am convinced she foresaw the possibility of the death of any of the occupants
of Veli Mamba’s house, but was reckless whether or not it occurred," Judge
Hlophe said.
He said this applied to all the offences Shabangu was charged with.