Flavio Hlabangwane has been described as a callous, unremorseful and violent killer for the manner in which he planned and took the life of his ex-girlfriend Tshepang Pitse.

Hlabangwane was yesterday sentenced to life in the Johannesburg high court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court for killing Pitse and got 10 years for defeating the ends of justice and an additional 15 years for violating a corpse.

Judge Cassim Moosa said the sentences will run concurrently. Moosa said Pitse’s killing was an intimate partner killing and an act of femicide that needed to be punished appropriately.

“The manner in which the accused [Hlabangwane] behaved after killing the deceased [Pitse] by dismembering her body, head and torso, and storing her hands in the freezer, shows the callousness and senseless killing by the accused... From the evidence presented in court the accused humiliated and manipulated the deceased. He was also violent towards her,” said Moosa.

“The accused has not taken this court fully into his confidence about what happened on the fateful day... The accused is not remorseful for his actions. At all material times during the proceedings, the accused painted the deceased in a bad light... This is a callous murder that should not be punished leniently...

“This court will not allow the scourge of gender-based violence to continue unabated. Enough is enough.”

Moosa declared Hlabangwane unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that he participate in long-term psycho-therapy which focuses on behaviour, anger management and substance abuse.

Hlabangwane was arrested in November 2021 after body parts of his ex-girlfriend were discovered inside a fridge at his home in Soweto. The discovery was made by his then new girlfriend, who alerted neighbours and the police.

He pleaded guilty to planning the murder of Pitse and thereafter dismembering her body. He had no previous convictions.

While Moosa was reading the judgment, Hlabangwane sat in the dock in leg chains in a courtroom packed with Pitse’s family and community members.

Pitse’s uncle Edward said he was happy at the sentence.

“We are not going to get our child back but we are happy that justice has been served. If I got the opportunity to meet him, I will tell him how disappointed I am with what he did. I do not think he has any regrets or shows any remorse for what he did,” said Edward.

He said he still wants Hlabangwane to tell the family where the rest of Pitse’s body parts are. “He should tell us why he killed her and where the torso is so that we can get closure,” he said.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the killing of women continues and it is only through life sentences that men will be deterred from committing the crime.

“More and more women die at the hands of men who are supposed to protect them. “The NPA is up to the task to vigorously prosecute those who undermine the right to life and rule of law,” said Mjonondwane.

kokam@sowetan.co.za