Limpopo police have praised the “hefty” sentences handed down by the Polokwane High Court against a 51-year-old sangoma Tinyiko Tony Simango for the murder of his client, Victor Alexander Phokgedi Lekau, 65, of Ga-Mphahlele village outside Lebowakgomo.
Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, a provincial police spokesperson, said the superior court decided to convict Simango after hearing details about how the traditional healer killed his client, Lekau, who had visited his practice in Hlakano village, Zebediela, for consultations on May 2.
“The two drove to the bushes near Groothoek to perform rituals and upon arrival, the accused (Simango) hit the victim with a wheel spanner, killing him instantly. He then then drove off in the robbed motor vehicle,” said Ledwaba.
According to police, the traditional healer drove in Lekau’s vehicle, attempting to sell it but failing to do so quickly.
“A few days later, the tracking company contacted the deceased’s family when they could not reach him after they noticed that the battery was disconnected. That’s when the family went to Lebowakgomo police station to report the matter,” Ledwaba said.
A missing person case was opened, and police began searching for the missing man.
“The accused was arrested the same week on 7 May, while admitted in hospital after the vehicle overturned following a (high) speed car chase with the tracking company. He then confessed to killing the victim, and further took the police to the scene of crime where the body was found already in a state decomposition,” Ledwaba said.
The missing person case was then transformed into a murder, robbery, and murder investigation.
The investigation was assigned to Detective Sergeant Mmabatho Ledwaba of Zebediela detectives.
Simango was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and 12 years in prison for robbery with aggravating circumstances by the Polokwane High Court.
“The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently which means the accused will serve an effective 20 years imprisonment,” Ledwaba said.
Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, the provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, praised the investigating officer, Sergeant Ledwaba, for her “outstanding investigation.”
Main Image:EPA/HERMAN VERWEY/POOL
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