Life in jail for Mpumalanga man for murder, robbery and theft

The court heard that in December 2017, Tlamama stormed into 56-year-old Johannes Moekwa’s house in Siyabuswa, robbed the man of his personal firearm and fatally shot him.

PRETORIA, June 10 (ANA) – A 28-year-old Mpumalanga man has been sentenced to life in jail plus additional years after being convicted for murder, robbery and theft, police said.

The Mpumalanga division of the high court sitting in Middleburg on Wednesday sentenced Percy Tlamama over several crimes including the murder of 56-year-old Johannes Moekwa in late 2017, provincial police spokesman Colonel Donald Mdhluli said in a statement.

“The court reached its decision to sentence the accused after it was heard during the trial that in December 2017, Tlamama stormed into … Moekwa’s house in Siyabuswa, took an advantage and robbed the man of his personal firearm and fatally shot him,” said Mdhluli.

“He also stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the said house as well as livestock, which included some goats and sheep. The accused further stole a Toyota Hilux bakkie and used it as his gateway vehicle.”

In January 2018, Tlamama went on to hijack a VW Polo being driven by a 27-year-old man in Siyabuswa with a female passenger.

“During the hijacking, the accused robbed his victims of their personal items, including cell phones, wrist watch and bank cards. Tlamama then went to an ATM and withdrew cash from his victims’ bank accounts,” Mdhluli said.

“Both cases were probed and during the … investigation, members of the public notified police that they saw Tlamama driving the vehicle belonging to the deceased. Police followed the information and on 19 September 2019, the suspect was apprehended. He then informed investigators of his involvement in the hijacking incident.”

The hijacked VW Polo was later recovered at Mamelodi in Gauteng province and during its seizure police also found a firearm stolen during Moekwa’s murder.

“On the count of murder, Tlamama was sentenced to life imprisonment. On the count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, he was slapped with 15 years imprisonment. On the count of kidnapping, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment,” said Mdhluli.

“On the count of unlawful possession of a firearm, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. On the count of unlawful possession of ammunition, the accused was sentenced to three years imprisonment.”

The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently with the life sentence.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa