- A Gauteng man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his legal practitioner girlfriend.
- Kabelo Rasepae stabbed Olive Motsomi multiple times in her home.
- He then fled to North West where he was arrested.
A Gauteng man who fled the province after murdering his legal practitioner girlfriend of 10 years, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Kabelo Gift Rasepae stabbed Olive Gobonwana Motsomi to death in her Krugersdorp home in January 2020.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, Rasepae took Motsomi to Robinson hospital in Randfontein. He told the hospital staff that he and Motsomi were victims of a house robbery, Mjonondwane added.
She said:
Motsomi died later that day.
He fled to Rustenburg in the North West where Mogwase police found him in possession of Motsomi's vehicle on 23 January 2020.
"[The investigating officer] followed [up on] information received from Motsomi's family that the couple did not have any children and that the accused called the brother of the deceased on Christmas day of 2019, informing him that the deceased had ended their relationship and was seeing someone else," Mjonondwane said.
In aggravation of the sentence, State advocate Patric Mkhari submitted a victim impact statement, compiled by probation officer Thato Modise.
The statement indicated that Motsomi's mother was traumatised and was dependent on anti-depressants because she could not accept that her child had been taken in such a brutal way.
Mkhari argued that society relies on the court system to root out gender-based violence, by removing perpetrators from society.
Mkhari also argued that Motsomi was a legal practitioner who believed in the criminal justice system and that justice should prevail.
In imposing the sentence, Acting Judge Moses Baloyi said Rasepae killed Motsomi in the sanctity of her home and failed to present the court with substantial and compelling circumstances to warrant a deviation from the minimum prescribed sentence of life imprisonment.
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