Car guard killer sentenced to 10 years in prison

The man convicted of killing a car guard Xolani Meswana in the Johannesburg inner city has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Philani Mkhulisa, 30, was found guilty in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Tuesday where he had a huge number of his family to witness proceedings. Magistrate Hombakazi Twele also found him not fit to possess a firearm.

Hombakazi said while Mkhulisa was a young first time offender, he had committed a serious crime for which the court had to deter others from committing similar offenses.

“The deceased died a painful and unnecessary death. Surely the deceased did not expect to be beaten and tramped upon in the manner he was killed.

“There was no reason for killing him. Killing a person for mere possessions is not right. You alleged that he stole the laptops. Surely the life of a person is more important than possessions.

“There are ways in which the accused could have dealt with the victim if he felt that he was the person who had stolen items in his car,” Twele said.

On August 7 2018, Mkhulisa assaulted Meswana in the Johannesburg inner city.

Mkhulisa, who was 25 at the time of the crime, had parked his car and went to McDonald's with his girlfriend. When he returned, he found it broken into and his laptop and ID were missing. He then assaulted Meswana, accusing him of breaking into his car. He hit him with his hands and went on to tramp on him with his feet.

Meswana was certified dead on the scene.

During trial, the state relied mainly on testimony from Samuel Diseko, a car guard who was working with Meswana on the day of the killing. Diseko was a star witness detailing how Mkhulisa attacked Meswana after realising that his car had been broken to. The court found his evidence to be credible and consistent even with the injuries described in the post moterm report.

Diseko, who lived on the streets of Johannesburg, also died of natural causes on August 14.

Before walking down into the cells, Mkhulisa shook hands with all his family members who looked to be shocked by the sentence.