Murderer of teen gets life

GIFT Sibondo, a Zimbabwean found guilty of kidnapping and murdering his 15-year-old Bredasdorp girlfriend, Elda Japhta, has been sentenced to life in jail.

Sibondo, on trial since 2015, was found guilty of three counts of kidnapping and two counts of statutory rape and murder.

On Friday, Western Cape High Court Acting Judge Feziwe Renqe sentenced Sibondo to life imprisonment for the murder, five years for each kidnapping charge and four years for each statutory rape charge. She ordered that the kidnapping and rape sentences run concurrently with the life sentence.

Handing down sentence, Judge Renqe referred to testimony by the victim’s mother, Eva Lackay.

“Lackay said she was deeply hurt by the loss of her daughter. She said the deceased dreamt of being a teacher. She said there were still no answers to why the accused murdered her daughter and he has never apologised,” said Judge Renqe.

The acting judge also referred to investigation officer Tony Kruger’s testimony in which he said that alcohol and poverty played a role in the death of the 15-year-old teen.

“The relationship between the accused and Japhta had conflict. The State submitted that this was a crime of passion.

“The victim was a child from poor background; the accused took advantage of her.

“The accused was heartless and the age gap caused the deceased to submit to the accused’s authority.”

Japhta was in a relationship with Sibondo for two years. In May 2015, at the age of 29, Sibondo hid Japhta’s body under his bed in the Zwelitsha informal settlement. She had been severely beaten.

She had died from blunt force trauma and strangulation.

Her body was covered with drag marks on her thighs, knees and arms. She also had brain swelling, two of her teeth were knocked out, and she had contusions on her lips.