A KZN man who killed his sister’s love rival in exchange for a cow has been handed an 18 year jail sentence.
|||Pietermaritzburg - A man who murdered a woman in a love triangle was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday.
Sandile Ngubane, 20, of Mtubatuba, told the court his sister Beniwe Nala, promised him a cow if he killed Sibongile Zenli, whom she suspected of having an affair with her boyfriend.
Ngubane said he felt indebted to his sister as she had raised him in the absence of parents.
Nala gave Ngubane a home-made firearm and guided him to Zeni's rondavel.
Ngubane killed her with a single shot through a window while she was asleep.
The court heard that Nala had not given him the cow she had promised him.
Acting Judge Thoba Poya-Dlwati found substantial and compelling circumstances to depart from the prescribed life sentence for murder.
These were that Ngubane was a first offender, he was relatively young, he had pleaded guilty and not wasted the court's time, and had undertaken to testify against his sister.
Although there was no evidence linking him to the murder, had he not volunteered his guilt.
However, it counted against him that he had thought he would be rewarded with a cow for the crime.
Ngubane said he had hoped to sell the cow and use the money to obtain a driver's licence which would have enhanced his chances of finding a job.
He did not apply for leave to appeal the sentence. - Sapa