20-year sentence for former Joburg ANCYL leader 'not enough'

Patrick Wisani, the former Johannesburg ANC Youth League leader who beat his girlfriend Nosipho Mandleleni to death with a sjambok in 2015 received a 20-year prison sentence yesterday.

Judge Mohamed Ismail's sentence was described as "nothing", with many in the court saying it was "too light".

Clad in purple T-shirts distributed before the court resumed, members of the public immediately left room 4F in the Johannesburg High Court after the sentencing.

Mandleleni's mother, Noxolo, could not believe the man who killed her daughter would serve only a fraction of the sentence she felt he deserved.

"Twenty years is not enough. I would have been happy if he had been given a life sentence.

• Unimpressed judge grants ‘lengthy postponement’ for sjambok murderer’s sentencingSouth Gauteng High Court Judge Mohamed Ismail issued a stern warning to convicted former African National Congress Youth League Johannesburg leader Patrick Wisani to get his house in order after he asked for his sentencing to be postponed.

"But any sentence will not bring my daughter back," she said.

Noxolo did not leave the courtroom immediately.

She leaned against the wall facing the judge's seat as if she was waiting to see him come back to pronounce a different sentence.

"I thought this person (Wisani) would stay longer in jail so he can find himself," she said.

Maurice Smithers of the Yeoville Bellevue No to Gender-Based Violence Coalition shared Noxolo's sentiments.

"We are disappointed at the sentence because he didn't show any remorse," Smithers said.

• Former ANC youth league leader Patrick Wisani to be sentenced next monthConvicted former Johannesburg African National Congress (ANC) youth league leader Patrick Wisani will be sentenced next month for the murder of his girlfriend.

"The only time he ever showed emotion was when he was angry. He never showed remorse for the fact that his girlfriend died.

"My worry is, is he going to learn from this or is he going to come out more angry towards women?"

Smithers said he hoped the case would shock society.

"I do think it's important to note the courts are not going to resolve gender-based violence.

"The courts can play a small part by giving appropriate sentences," he said.

Ismail found that Wisani had not shown any remorse and was arrogant throughout the trial.

"His behaviour shows disdain towards women.

• Wisani's conviction a step in right direction: Lawyers for Human RightsThe conviction of former ANC Johannesburg youth league head Patrick Wisani is a "step towards the right direction" in dealing with those who commit femicide.

"It has no place in our constitutional dispensation," Ismail said.

"The manner in which the deceased was beaten indicates that he (Wisani) was propelled by anger.

"The deceased's death was not instantaneous.

"It was a painful and agonising, slow death," said Ismail.

But Ismail said he did not believe Wisani should be sentenced to life imprisonment as there were compelling and substantial circumstances that warranted him to impose a lesser sentence.

These included that Wisani was a first-time offender, is intelligent and is capable of being rehabilitated, he said.