Missionary: Priest killer must face justice

Justice has to be done before forgiveness can be considered for the killer of a Catholic priest in Diepsloot, a missionary tells the High Court.

Father Seán O'Leary said he was sure their congregation and God would eventually forgive self-confessed killer Nelson Kabelo Malope, 20, but the church wanted to see justice done first.

Malope told the court he murdered Father Louis Blondel, 70, in 2009 and robbed him and fellow priest Guido Bourgeois because he wanted money for drugs and alcohol.

He said he and a group of four friends had decided to rob Father Blondel because they had an order for a computer.

Malope, who comes from Groblersdal, had only been in Diepsloot for four days when he murdered the respected priest.

O'Leary said if the court was lenient in sentencing Malope, it would send out the message that it was okay to kill a priest because they were easy targets.

"You can't go around in the street at two o'clock in the morning with a gun and shoot a priest. It's not acceptable," he said

"The church is looking for justice. Not revenge. Just justice."

O'Leary said he really felt sorry for Malope's parents, but it was clear they could not control their son.

He said Blondel, who had been in South Africa for 22 years, had been a leading member of the church's organisation Missionaries of Africa.

He had established a trade school in Orange Farm to help the unemployed, but his murder resulted in his plans for a similar school in Diepsloot being cancelled.

He said Father Blondel's brother and sisters in France were absolutely devastated and the community was numb with shock about his terrible killing.

Malope said he wanted to ask his victim's family and his parents for forgiveness.

"I didn't know what I was doing. I will never do it again," he said.

Malope's mother Ester burst into tears when she told the court her son had been a good boy who never gave her any trouble.

She said she was surprised to hear about his crimes and did not know what to say to his victim's family or in front of the face of God.

Prosecutor P W Coetzer argued that Malope should be sent to jail for a long time, despite his youth.

Defence counsel Ndshine Molobedi however asked the court not to send his client to jail at all because he was a first offender, was young when he committed the crimes and had been subjected to peer pressure.

The trial was postponed to September 5 for sentencing.