'I am going to sleep tonight'

13 October 2015 - 02:02 By Roxanne Henderson

Elizabeth Marawa had been praying for this moment for more than a year. Her prayers were answered yesterday with the conviction of Jozi FM DJ Donald Sebolai, her daughter, Rachel Flavia "Dolly" Tshabalala's, killer.Sebolai, 38, spent his first night behind bars as a convicted murderer last night.He was found guilty of murdering Tshabalala after the couple fought in his Soweto flat in June last year.Sebolai, also known as DJ "Donald Duck", was also found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice for cleaning up the crime scene, but was acquitted on a charge of motor vehicle theft.Speaking at the Johannesburg High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, Marawa said: "I am going to sleep tonight."Earlier, as Judge Cassim Moosa read his judgment, Marawa broke down in tears, hearing again how her daughter had bled to death.Moosa found that Sebolai had killed Tshabalala in cold blood when he stabbed her in the lower abdomen.Sebolai had pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming that he had acted in self-defence.In his testimony Sebolai said Tshabalala attacked him with a knife and that she was wounded as he tried to fend her off.He claimed she had accidentally stabbed herself in the struggle.But Moosa did not buy Sebolai's story, and relied on the evidence of the "credible and satisfactory" state witnesses instead.Moosa said that Tshabalala could not have accidentally stabbed herself as the knife wound could only have been inflicted with "significant force".Sebolai had previously told the court that he was in shock after realising that Tshabalala was dead and claimed that had led him to clean her blood from his lounge floor before taking his girlfriend to the hospital.Moosa said Sebolai's failure to call for medical help was not because he was in shock, but because he intended her to die.Witnesses told the courtearlier that the couple's love affair was violent at times.Following the verdict prosecutor Tania Buitendag asked the court to revoke Sebolai's R10000 bail, saying the DJ is a flight risk.Defence attorney Pule Pule said Sebolai would apply for bail later this week and intended to appeal his conviction and sentence.Sentencing will begin on November 25...

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