Three sentenced for fatal mob attacks on teenagers

Three men have each been sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering a 17-year-old boy and the attempted murder of a 16-year-old survivor after a brutal mob justice attack in the Free State.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane said in addition to the 15 years for the murder, the Phuthaditjhaba regional court sentenced Lehlohonolo Lekhoaba, Pule Lombard, and Letema Seapi to eight years for attempted murder. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning the accused will each serve 15 years.

“The attack happened on 30 October 2023 in Mabolela Village near Phuthaditjhaba. The court found the three men acted in furtherance of a common purpose”, said Senokoatsane.

According to evidence, the two minors were walking from a yard the deceased had identified as his family home when a community member stopped them and accused them of housebreaking.

The victims were beaten with sjamboks, pick handles and wooden sticks and were forced to drink dirty water. The assault lasted more than three hours.

The 16-year-old survivor testified that he lost consciousness during the attack. When he woke, he found his 17-year-old friend lying lifeless next to the road with police already on the scene. He was taken to hospital.

While the survivor could not identify his attackers due to the number of assailants and his injuries, an eyewitness who had known all three accused for more than 20 years positively identified them as active participants.

The witness testified that the attack occurred in daylight and that each accused assaulted the victims with pick handles and wooden sticks.

The accused denied being at the scene. But under cross-examination by prosecutor Botlenyane Mosia both the accused and their witnesses conceded they had been present.

Their witnesses also confirmed the eyewitness was there and that there was no animosity between him and the accused.

The court rejected the accuseds’ versions as contradictory and unreliable, and accepted the state’s evidence.

During sentencing, the defence argued the men were first offenders, fathers, husbands and breadwinners and asked for a deviation from the prescribed life sentence for murder.

The state opposed a lighter sentence. It said the victims were subjected to prolonged torture and the conduct was gruesome, shocking and entirely unjustifiable. Mosia argued the accused took the law into their own hands and, as adults, failed to stop the assault on children.

The court found the fact that both victims were minors was a significant aggravating factor.

While it found substantial and compelling circumstances to depart from the minimum life sentence, the court imposed lengthy prison terms.

“Vigilantism and mob justice have no place in a constitutional democracy. No individual or group may assume the roles of investigator, prosecutor, judge and executioner,” said Senokoatsane.

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