A 25-year jail term handed down to a home invader who terrorised the family of a prosecutor has renewed her belief in the criminal justice system.
|||Durban - AN effective 25-year jail term handed down to a home invader who terrorised the family of a Durban prosecutor has renewed her belief in the criminal justice system.
Lungani Nxumalo, 37, who was sentenced in the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday, had been found found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Magistrate Anand Maharaj said that violent crime had become commonplace and was a concern to every law-abiding citizen.
“The reason for that concern is that it threatens the safety of our people. It undermines the values enshrined in our constitution that all people are to be free from all forms of violence whether in the public or private sector,” he said.
Nxumalo was one of four men who raided the home of Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court chief prosecutor, Amy Kistnasamy.
He assaulted her son, Provain Kistnasamy, and his girlfriend, Ashika Jaimangal.
The other men are still at large.
In November last year, the couple were sitting in Provain’s car at his mother’s Puntans Hill home after returning from university, when they were accosted by four men, all of whom, with the exception of Nxumalo, were wearing balaclavas. Nxumalo was found guilty earlier this month.
The robbers demanded money and cellphones, which were handed over. The robbers entered the house and demanded access to the safe, money and jewellery.
Provain testified that he had convinced the men to go downstairs to the garage while he ran down to his girlfriend and they made their way outside. He helped her jump over a 2m wall into a neighbour’s property and she fractured a knee and broke an ankle in the fall.
Amy Kistnasamy said her family had become paranoid about their safety. She said a guard patrolled their street and outside their front gate.
“We still live with the psychological trauma of the robbery,” she said.
Speaking outside court, Kistnasamy said
that Jaimangal had since moved to Pretoria. Provain had recovered from his physical injuries, but Jaimangal’s had still not completely healed.
The magistrate asked Kistnasamy about statistics on trio crimes - house robberies, business robberies and vehicle hijackings. She had said there were 800 000 convictions in the country, but that these were just for reported cases.
Maharaj, during sentencing, said these statistics were “mind-boggling” and that it highlighted the fact that crime was on the increase, especially serious and violent crimes.
“It seems proper that in these incidents, the emphasis should fall on retribution and deterrence… our country is degenerating into a lawless society. A climate of violence creates unsafe conditions for people to live in,” the magistrate said.
He referred to CCTV footage aired on television recently of hijackers in Gauteng, carrying AK-47 rifles, hijacking people in broad daylight at a busy intersection.
Maharaj said that the robbery of the Kistnasamys had been planned and well executed. He said Provain had received eight stitches for a wound to his head. Nxumalo had hit Provain with the butt of his gun. Jaimangal testified that blood had spattered on the wall and the ground.
Speaking to Nxumalo, Maharaj said: “What is of concern to me is the fact that you had a weapon and were prepared to use it. The trauma, the atmosphere within the house, the fear can only be known to the victims.”
He said that their psychological trauma, still experienced so long after the incident, was an aggravating factor when considering a sentence.
He felt there were no exceptional circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence and handed down a 15-year jail term for the robbery and a further 10 years for assault.
Kistnasamy told the Daily News that the sentence renewed her faith in the criminal justice system. “We are very pleased. The sentence will send out a strong message to those who are considering such a life of crime,” she said.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
Daily News