Three hitmen jailed for life for killing the man who originally contracted them to kill his wife have failed in their bid to have their sentences reduced.
The Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday found that the Western Cape High Court had not misdirected itself when it found that the many years the men had spent behind bars awaiting trial did not amount to substantial and compelling circumstances justifying a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment for a contract killing.
The hitmen — Loyiso Ludidi, Thando Chwayi and Sivuyile Shasha — were in May 2022 convicted of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances for shooting Pasika Kwaza dead in his bed on June 23 2016.
The court heard that in 2016 Pasika and Patience Kwaza were in an unhappy marriage, with Pasika having abused his wife over a long period. She had taken out a domestic violence interdict against him and filed a complaint against him for failing to pay maintenance, which was to be heard later that year.
Earlier in the year Patience Kwaza had become romantically involved with a local councillor in the area, and this was widely known in the community.
During the murder trial, the Western Cape High Court was told that instead of instituting divorce proceedings, Pasika Kwaza instead opted to order a hit on his wife and procured the services of Shasha in this regard. The court understood that he did this after discovering that his wife was having an extramarital affair.
Shasha then approached Chwayi and Ludidi to help him with the hit, only to discover that Chwayi was a friend and relative of Patience Kwaza — their target. Chwayi told her about the hit, and they decided to change the target from Patience to Pasika after Patience agreed that she would pay for the contract hit.
On June 23 2016 the three men entered the Kwaza home while the couple were lying in bed and shot Pasika twice in the head. They held Patience at gunpoint and took cellphones. Chwayi did not participate in the hit because he was known in the Kwaza household but was instead “the man behind the scenes”, the court heard.
All three men were arrested for the murder. Ludidi and Shasha were convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Chwayi and Patience Kwaza were found guilty of murder only.
Ludidi, Shasha and Chwayi were sentenced to life in 2022, after having spent five years and eight months in custody. Though Kwaza was found guilty of murder, the court found that “the hit ordered on her husband was a pre-emptive strike to remove a potential threat as it was likely that he would have killed her had she gone to the police”.
It appears that had they wished to do so, the appellants and their legal representatives could have considerably shortened the period they spent awaiting trial
— SCA acting judge Caroline Heaton Nicholls
“Her reduced moral blameworthiness and lengthy pre-sentencing detention were considered to be substantial and compelling circumstances warranting a lesser sentence,” the court found when sentencing her to 12 years in prison.
Ludidi, Shasha and Chwayi were granted leave to appeal their sentences and argued that the effect of lengthy pre-sentencing incarceration amounted to substantial and compelling circumstances warranting a lesser sentence than the prescribed minimum sentence.
The court heard that while five years and eight months was a long period to be held in custody, delays in the court process were largely attributable to a protracted and unsuccessful bail appeal, “serial non-attendances” by their legal representatives and disruptions due to Covid-19.
“It appears that had they wished to do so, the appellants and their legal representatives could have considerably shortened the period they spent awaiting trial,” SCA acting judge Caroline Heaton Nicholls said.
“The offences for which the appellants were convicted were heinous. They were hired assassins willing to murder whoever was identified if they were paid for the deed. There is nothing disproportionate about their sentences of life imprisonment.”
She dismissed their appeal.
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