The men, from Aliwal North, pleaded guilty to the murder but claimed they had not not intended to kill the woman, only to assault her.

Bulelani Latha, 29, and Ayanda Gqongwe, 23, were convicted of the murder and contravention of the Witchcraft Suppression Act earlier this year.

They were sentenced on Wednesday.

The two suspected their grandmother of practising witchcraft last year, soon after the death of Gqongwe's mother - also Latha's aunt.

Shortly before her death, she had reportedly told Latha she had been bewitched by the elderly woman.

On the day of his aunt's funeral, Latha told the court, he visited his grandmother's home. When he entered her yard, his leg started to ache.

The following day his leg was still swollen.

Latha believed his grandmother had a motive for bewitching him because he had previously accused her of witchcraft.

A sangoma, whom he approached for advice, reportedly confirmed that he had been bewitched.

This was when he decided to attack his grandmother, the court heard.

Latha said he met his cousin, Gqongwe, and the two discussed his suspicions over a five-litre bottle of wine and a bottle of brandy.

They parted company and Latha went to the victim's home.

He approached his grandmother and insisted that she tell him why she had bewitched him and his family.

He slapped and kicked her before beating her with a metal dish, which weighed about 2kg, and broke a plastic milk crate over her head.

Gqongwe arrived at the scene a while later and joined in the assault.

The postmortem report confirmed the women suffered lacerations to the head, a fractured skull, fractured ribs, bleeding on the brain and a laceration to the liver. She died in hospital.

Acting Judge Leon Kemp said Latha was the instigator who planned the attack.

In sentencing, Kemp said it was important to bear in mind the brutal way in which the murder was conducted.

He sentenced Latha to 20 years imprisonment for the murder, five of which would be suspended, and 18 months imprisonment for contravening the Witchcraft Suppression Act.

The sentences will run concurrently, meaning Latha will spend an effective 15 years behind bars.

Gqongwe was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the murder, five of which were suspended, and 12 months for contravening the witchcraft act. His sentences will also run concurrently.

He will effectively spend 10 years in prison.

Comments

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Fri May 24 03:45:07 SAST 2013 ::

May 11, 2012

RobinH

Good. This persecution of people because of supposed"witchcraft" is just crazy.
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May 11, 2012

Pointman

@RobinH - 10 years effective imprisonment for murder is not good. They should have got life. It is crazy that people still believe that witchcraft actually exists. They should also find the sangoma who told their mom that she had been bewithced by the old lady and deal with him too.
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May 11, 2012

RobinH

Pointman: What I mean is that it is good something happened at all.
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May 11, 2012

Mbeva

Witchcraft is a theory of causation and causal links
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May 11, 2012

Sompisi

Abanye badakwe yi "mbamba" so early in the morning.......
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May 11, 2012

theMrs

Ijo! i wonder what brought about this act. anyway thanks to sowetan and wikipedia for the free education.

Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 From Wikisource
Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 (1957)
enacted by the Parliament of South Africa
as amended related portals: Acts of the Parliament of South Africa, Witchcraft.The Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 (Act No. 3 of 1957) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that prohibits various activities related to witchcraft and "witch smelling". It was enacted by the apartheid regime, and is based on a similar colonial-era statute of the Cape Colony. It has been argued that some provisions of the act are no longer constitutional in that they violate the Bill of Rights, which protects the freedom of religion and the freedom to participate in cultural life. As a consequence the act is currently under review by the South African Law Reform Commission.
The act came into force on 22 February 1957. It was amended in 1970 by the Witchcraft Suppression Amendment Act, 1970, which added one new offence (purporting to use supernatural powers to accuse another person of causing death, injury or damage) and converted fines denominated in pounds to rands. It was amended again in 1997 by the Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997, which abolished the use of whipping to punish certain offences.




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May 11, 2012

MommaC

"..the two discussed his suspicions over a five-litre bottle of wine and a bottle of brandy."

There's your leg's 'bewitchment' right there, boet. Gout.

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May 11, 2012

veezee

Yoh these peeps murdered their own granny...yeses wat is dis world coming to....lol only in Limpopo #just kidding#
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May 11, 2012

Idohl

Let's hear it from Limpopo haters. Silent as lambs. Pity on Grams though.
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May 11, 2012

Galfrend

Just 10 years? soon they will be out on parole.
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