Face of crime: Dad, 28, now a lifer in jail

A Johannesburg man has forever changed his life and that of his victims after deciding to rob a group playing dice, escaping with cellphones of little financial value.

Sifiso Shabalala of Tshepisong has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The Johannesburg high court this month also imposed terms of between three to 15 years to run concurrently with the lengthier jail stint for murder, assault with intention to do grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and possession of a knife.

He is 28 years old. Both his parents have passed on. His highest level of education is grade 10, and he left school when he was 17. He started doing odd jobs collecting plastic.

At the time of his arrest, he was also receiving a rental income from rooms he let out.

He was staying with his girlfriend and has a three-year old child.

The Johannesburg high court heard evidence that in July 2022, he killed Siyabonga Mazibuko, assaulted and stabbed Simphiwe Sangweni and shot Ezekiel Beckam Leeuw during a robbery.

Shabalala entered a shack with another man where a group was playing dice on the pretext of looking for cigarettes and dagga. When told them they did not have any, the two men left but not before Shabalala told them they would all be injured.

He returned 15 to 30 minutes later with two accomplices, demanding money and their phones, according to witnesses.

The crime netted him nine or 10 cellphones including a Samsung Grand Prime cellular phone to the value of R750, a MobiCell Rio cellular phone worth R350 and a speaker box valued at R200. The highest value item was a Nokia cellular phone estimated to cost R6,000.

Josephine Busisiwe Mazibuko told the court her son's death has left a terrible void in her life as he used to do a lot of things to help her which she cannot do on her own. He was 25 when he was killed.

Leeuw testified he used to play professional soccer before the attack.

However, due to the gunshot wound, a metal sheet was fitted where the bone of his thigh broke in two. As a result, he is no longer able to run or play soccer professionally. This has deprived him of an income of R5,500.

Judge Dario Dosia, who found Shabalala had entered the shack earlier to ascertain how many people were inside, said the sentence needed to consider the interests of the community as well as prevention and deterrence.

“Direct imprisonment is the only suitable sentence as the accused acted with sheer brutality, together with his co-perpetrators, when he entered the shack in the early morning hours. Violence against innocent victims is a serious concern in this country.

“To focus on the wellbeing of the accused to the detriment of the interests of the community would result in a distorted sentence,” the judge said.

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