Pretoria – The High Court in Polokwane has sentenced 28-year-old Lazarus Justice Mohapi to two life sentences and a combined 48 years imprisonment for the murder of a Bela-Bela farmer and his employee.
Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, spokesperson for the SAPS in Limpopo, said Mohapo entered Simon Malebane’s farm in Radium on August 17, 2019, assaulted and killed him, then attacked and killed farm worker Daniel Leburu.
“The convicted farm murderer Lazarus Mohapi was found guilty of two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and contravention of Immigration Act,” said Ledwaba.
Mohapi was arrested three days after the horrific incident.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for count 1; a life term each for counts 2 and 3; 15 years each for counts 4 and 5; 5 years’ imprisonment for count 6; and 3 years for count 7.
“The court ordered that the sentence in count one, three, four, five, six and seven shall run concurrently with the sentence in count two. Effective sentence is life imprisonment,” said Ledwaba.
The Limpopo police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, welcomed the hefty sentence.
“This sentence should send a clear message to other criminals that police will always be relentless when pursuing perpetrators of gruesome crimes and make sure they face the full might of the law,” she said.
IOL