This after Judge Joseph Mhlambi found him guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances and murder in the Bloemfontein High Court on Thursday.

The accused was further slapped with a 15-year jail sentence for robbery and this sentence will run concurrently with that of the murder. Judge Mhlambi said the accused did not show any remorse for the brutal murder of Tshabalala and further labelled his testimony in court as not trustworthy and honest following multiple contradictory statements. Tshabalala sustained "multiple gunshots wounds to his body which led to his death which was labelled as unnecessary and painful by the state".

Judge Mhlambi said the testimony that the suspect was not aware of of the planned murder of Tshabalala was not true because Ramasiu failed to disassociate him with the other accused before and after the commission of the crime.
He said this was clear to the court as Masiu had earlier said he had no intentions of spilling the beans to the police unless he was asked about the matter.

On 24 May 2018, the accused Masiu, the convict Sprinkaan Maema - who is serving a 33-year jail sentence - and two men identified as Leremi and Orapeleng planned an ambush where Tshabalala was fatally shot in Phelindaba in Mangaung.

A Toyota Hilux belonging to the state was robbed but later recovered near Dewetsdorp in Bloemfontein and inside the Hilux, blood samples were taken and the DNA results showed that it was Masiu's blood.

Masiu's blood was found at four places, including the house in Phelindaba, a wheelchair at National Hospital and two vehicles, including the state's vehicle and a Toyota Tazz which was used as a getaway car.

During the aggravating and mitigating factors, State Advocate Dansi Mpemvane indicated that Masiu was charged with serious offences and a maximum sentence was fit for sentencing.

Defence Advocate Venecia Abraham, on the other hand, pleaded with Judge Mhlambi not to impose the harsher sentence. She said considering that Masiu was still young and a father to his minor children, including a set to twins, there was a chance that he could be rehabilitated.

She also said that the court needed to take into consideration that Masiu was a first offender and he never had any brushes with the law.

Masiu was in custody for a year and three months after the police arrested him on 14 August 2020 after evading his arrest in South Africa and Lesotho.

After suffering a gunshot wound during the murder of Tshabalala - Masiu was whisked away from the National Hospital in Bloemfontein and his friends took him to Lesotho instead where he attended to his wounds at the Mafeteng Hospital.

While in hospital in that country, he also evaded arrest after his alleged transgressions with the law and he was finally arrested in South Africa.

The state had prepared 27 witnesses, including Free State evidence analyst, Karin Jacobs, to give their accounts of details in the murder case.

In its summary of substantial facts, the State alleges that the accused, the convicted Maema, and another attacker were aware of the whereabouts of the deceased at Phelindaba and that they went there to execute the plan. However, the state also says the motive for the murder is still unclear at this stage. 

The state, however, adds that Tshabalala would at times testify on criminal matters in court.

OFM News