MBABANE – Judge Titus Mlangeni says it has become very easy to kill a person and society as a whole must be concerned.
The judge made this comment when sentencing two men, Bongani Ndzimandze and Mzwandile Mahlindza, to 30 and 20 years respectively for the murder of Manando Lucas Msimango, whom they accused of stealing their dagga.
The court found that the deceased had been assaulted, strangled and his body dumped in a dam. The court also referred to what it described as the growing problem of self-help in disputes linked to dagga-related conflicts, stating that this trend needs to be stopped.
Judge Mlangeni delivered the judgment on sentence on Wednesday. The two accused had earlier been found guilty of murdering Msimango on March 9, 2022. The judge observed that incidents of murder continued to occur frequently despite increasingly severe sentences imposed by courts.
The court stressed that murder remains a serious threat to the sanctity of life and stated that sentencing courts must recognise the finality of the loss suffered by the deceased’s relatives, including the possibility that a breadwinner may have been lost.
In the sentencing proceedings, the court considered submissions made on behalf of both accused in extenuation and mitigation. The defence informed the court that neither accused had previous convictions.
The court heard that the two accused persons came from Lubulini in the Lubombo Region, an area described during proceedings as impoverished and associated with dagga cultivation and trade. According to the defence, the accused were poorly educated, with accused number one never having attended school.
The defence submitted that the accused were unsophisticated individuals whose difficult backgrounds contributed to irrational behaviour. It was also told the court that accused Mahlindza was under the age of 20 at the time the offence was committed.
The court further heard that the accused had not led evidence during trial proceedings and that, according to the defence, this had saved the court’s time. Their legal representative also submitted that the accused cooperated with law enforcement authorities throughout the investigation.
The convicts urged the court to find that they had been intoxicated at the time of the offence. Evidence during trial proceedings showed that on March 9, 2022, the deceased, the accused and other patrons had been drinking marula brew at a drinking spot known as KaSdudla before the events leading to the murder unfolded.
Judge Mlangeni noted that March is generally associated with the peak of marula drinking season in Eswatini. However, the court observed that the accused had not presented evidence proving that they were intoxicated to such an extent that their judgment was impaired during the commission of the offence.
The court stated that it could not speculate on the degree of intoxication because no evidence had been presented on the matter. The same applied to certain personal circumstances raised by the defence, including the young age of accused number two.
The Crown argued that the personal circumstances of the accused could not outweigh the seriousness of the offence and the interests of society. The court referred to the established sentencing principle requiring courts to balance the offender’s personal circumstances, the gravity of the crime and the interests of society when determining an appropriate sentence.
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