BY ERIC MATOME KGOMO
Siyabuswa: A 28-year-old man, Percy Tlamama, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of a 56-year-old man at Siyabuswa. The sentence was handed down by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court, which was sitting in Middleburg recently.
The court reached its decision to sentence the accused after it was heard during the trial that in December 2017, Tlamama stormed into a 56-year-old Johannes Moekwa’s house in Siyabuswa, took an advantage and robbed the victim of his personal firearm and fatally shot him. It was also established that he also stole undisclosed amount of cash from the deceased’s house as well as livestock which included some goats and sheep. The accused further stole a Toyota Hilux bakkie and used it as his gateway vehicle. “Police were notified about this gruesome act where they immediately instituted an investigation. They worked tirelessly to ensure that the one responsible for the murder was brought to book,” said Colonel Donald Mdhluli, Mpumalanga Provincial Police Spokesperson. Mdhluli added that following the murder incident, Tlamama continued with his evil deed whereby on 28 January 2018, he hijacked a VW Polo which was driven by a 27-year-old man who was in a company of his female friend. “During the hijacking, the accused robbed the victims of their personal items including cell phones, wrist watch and bank cards. Tlamama then went to an ATM and withdrew cash from his victims’ bank accounts and fled with the vehicle. This incident occurred also in Siyabuswa,” said Mdhluli. He said both cases were probed and during the tour of the investigation, members of the public notified police that they saw Tlamama driving the vehicle belonging to the 56-year-old deceased. “Police followed the information and on 19 September 2019, the suspect was apprehended. He then informed investigators of his involvement in the said hijacking incident. The hijacked VW Polo was then recovered at Mamelodi in Gauteng Province and during its seizure, police also found a firearm stolen during the murder of Moekwa,” detailed Mdhluli. He said the police linked Tlamama to both incidents where he was charged accordingly and appeared before court where he was convicted to life imprisonment for murder and slapped with an additional of 33 years for other offences. “On the count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, the accused was slapped with 15 years imprisonment and was sentenced to ten years for kidnapping. He received a further five years for unlawful possession of a firearm and three years on the count of unlawful possession of ammunition,” informed Mdhluli. He said the court has decided that all the sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence, meanwhile he was found to be unfit to possess a firearm. The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General Thulani Phahla, has lauded the sterling work displayed by a team of investigators, the prosecution, as well as the Judiciary.
“The public will sleep better knowing that the state has put one murderer behind bars for a very long time. We hope that this sentence will encourage our communities to continue to support the fight against crime by providing valuable information to authorities,” said Phahla.
