Siphiwe Kweyama, 28, was sentenced at the Eshowe Regional Court to life and 15 years imprisonment for the murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances he committed in July 2018 in the Isithebe area of Sundumbili, KwaZulu-Natal.

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said on the evening of July 13, 2018, the victims, siblings aged 16 and 18, were at their homestead when Kweyama, accompanied by his co-perpetrators, went there and robbed the complainant of his cellphone at gunpoint. They forced him to his mother’s house which was on the same homestead, where his younger siblings were preparing for bed. Pretending to be police officers, they gained access to the house and assaulted the occupants, demanding money from them.

“The room was dark as they had cut the electricity supply. Since the victims were crying, Kweyama, who was standing outside, instructed his co-perpetrators to keep the victims quiet as the noise was going to wake the neighbour. At this point, the deceased (aged 16) recognised Kweyama’s voice and she mentioned that she knew they were not police officers - she knew Kweyama’s voice well. Before the incident, Kweyama had tried to court her,” said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.

“One of the assailants then shot her three times and the men fled the scene. Kweyama was arrested a week later in possession of the complainant’s cellphone. One of the other perpetrators died following a shoot-out with police who were trying to arrest him.”

In court, Prosecutor Nkosinathi Ngcongo led eyewitnesses’ testimonies as well as the evidence of the police officials who arrested Kweyama.

Mr Ngcongo further handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the complainant and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer, Amanda Nxumalo.

In his statement, the complainant said that his life has changed since the incident and that he and his family no longer feel safe in their home. He said his mother who was grief-stricken at the loss of his sister, passed away not long after. The complainant said that he still has flashbacks and nightmares about the incident.

Kweyama was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and 15 years imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances. He will serve an effective life imprisonment and the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm, said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.

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