A former Walter Sisulu University student has been sentenced to life imprisonment for hijacking and killing a prison warder.
Siphesihle Ngozi, 26, cried as he was led down to the cells, saying it was not fair his accomplice got off scot free. “Yes, the sentence is fair for me. I am paying dearly for my stupidity and the crime I have committed. I do not blame the court for this.
“But what breaks my heart is that the other person, a friend of mine, with whom I planned and committed crime, is roaming the street.
“He is a free man although like me he made confession,” said Siphesihle Ngozi, speaking to the Dispatch in front of his lawyer, Nothemba Dandala-Pungula, minutes after the sentencing. Ngozi was 24 years old when he committed the crime.
Mthatha High Court Judge Lusindiso Pakade sentenced Ngozi to life imprisonment for the murder of Mthatha prison warder Dumisani Tiya, 37, and 18 years for the robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The sentences will run concurrently.
The attack took place at Lurhasini village between Tsolo and Mthatha in July 2013. Ngozi, a student at WSU’s Potsdam campus in East London at the time, planned to rob Tiya of his City Golf.
Ngozi was armed with an iron spanner and his friend with a rope. The knew when Tiya would knock off from work and approached his home at about 9pm. They blockaded the gravel road to his home with wooden logs.
“He arrived there at about 9pm. As he stopped, the accused came to the driver’s side and smashed the window with the iron wheel spanner and hit the driver on the head.
“They tied the driver’s neck with the rope to the head rest of the passenger seat. The accused drove the car to Zandukwane forest, planning to tie him to a tree.
“But when they arrived at the forest the victim was already dead,” said Judge Pakade in delivering sentence on Wednesday. He said they had decided to hide the corpse.
They drove the victim’s car to East London where Ngozi was studying.
He drove the car around East London until arrested on July 30, 2013.
“The accused said he wanted to sell the car so that he can have money,” said the judge.
He said Ngozi was not remorseful. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Former WSU student sentenced to life for warder’s murder
Siphesihle Ngozi, 26, cried as he was led down to the cells, saying it was not fair his accomplice got off scot free. “Yes, the sentence is fair for me. I am paying dearly for my stupidity and the crime I have committed. I do not blame the court for this.
“But what breaks my heart is that the other person, a friend of mine, with whom I planned and committed crime, is roaming the street.
“He is a free man although like me he made confession,” said Siphesihle Ngozi, speaking to the Dispatch in front of his lawyer, Nothemba Dandala-Pungula, minutes after the sentencing. Ngozi was 24 years old when he committed the crime.
Mthatha High Court Judge Lusindiso Pakade sentenced Ngozi to life imprisonment for the murder of Mthatha prison warder Dumisani Tiya, 37, and 18 years for the robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The sentences will run concurrently.
The attack took place at Lurhasini village between Tsolo and Mthatha in July 2013. Ngozi, a student at WSU’s Potsdam campus in East London at the time, planned to rob Tiya of his City Golf.
Ngozi was armed with an iron spanner and his friend with a rope. The knew when Tiya would knock off from work and approached his home at about 9pm. They blockaded the gravel road to his home with wooden logs.
“He arrived there at about 9pm. As he stopped, the accused came to the driver’s side and smashed the window with the iron wheel spanner and hit the driver on the head.
“They tied the driver’s neck with the rope to the head rest of the passenger seat. The accused drove the car to Zandukwane forest, planning to tie him to a tree.
“But when they arrived at the forest the victim was already dead,” said Judge Pakade in delivering sentence on Wednesday. He said they had decided to hide the corpse.
They drove the victim’s car to East London where Ngozi was studying.
He drove the car around East London until arrested on July 30, 2013.
“The accused said he wanted to sell the car so that he can have money,” said the judge.
He said Ngozi was not remorseful. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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