Ex-lover's dad's murderer to be sentenced

LIFE has dealt murder accused Lebogang Freddy Dakota a bad hand. A report handed in to the Johannesburg high court by social worker Annette Vergeer painted a picture of a man who was headed nowhere in life.

In June Dakota was found guilty of the murder of Sipho Dlwathi, the father of his ex-girlfriend Phindile.

Born on the plots of Vlakfontein, west of Johannesburg, "his parents were separated when the accused was about eight. He remained in the care of his mother and maintained contact with his father".

Dakota's father was a local plumber while his mother was unemployed.

The report said Dakota had no long-term goals and only had "basic survival skills".

Vergeer asked the court to evaluate Dakota from "within his own unique framework and circumstances".

The report also said the family struggled financially, resulting in his starting school in his teenage years.

Dakota had to drop out of school in Grade 5.

He was 20 years old.

In court last week Dakota's lawyer, Sizwe Mncwango, argued that his client was not a man with violent tendencies but that his actions were a "build-up" of emotions.

Dakota is facing life imprisonment after the court ruled that the murder was premeditated.

Dakota now shares an open cell with 60 other inmates in Krugersdorp Prison.

This morning Judge Lötter Wepener will decide his fate.

His ex-girlfriend and the prosecutor have called for Dakota to be given a life sentence, while Mncwango and Vergeer argued for a lenient sentence.