Refilwe Gift Malope knew and trusted her killers, a police officer and his cousin.
This emerged in the Polokwane high court, which sentenced the two men to serve terms of life imprisonment.
Sgt Thabo Moses Mokwana, 42, who worked at the Benoni police station, and Modirela Maxwell Mokwana, 45, of Motsephiri Village, accosted Malope on May 9 2022.
The 28-year-old was last seen when they forced her into the boot of a car in Kgaphamadi village and drove away with her. A missing person's case was opened, and a search was conducted that led to her decomposed remains being found in a ventilation shaft at a disused mine in Benoni.
In aggravation of sentence, state advocate Patrick Magoda submitted the victim impact statement from family members of the deceased.
The family recounted how Malope had "worked tirelessly to ensure members of the LGBTQI+ community were treated with dignity, integrity, and fairness". They shared the psychological impact her death had on them, especially because she was killed "by people she knew and trusted".
The two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, seven years for kidnapping and three years for defeating the ends of justice. The terms will run concurrently.
TimesLIVE previously reported her siblings believed disapproving family members of her girlfriend were behind the crime.
The deputy ministers of justice and of women, Andries Nel and Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, commended police and the courts for securing the convictions in "this deeply painful case".
TimesLIVE
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