Call for life sentence for Baleni
THE children and family of a murdered deputy school principal have called on the Mthatha High Court to impose a life sentence on his widow Noluthando Baleni.
Baleni has already confessed to the murder of her husband Kholisile Baleni.
Social development probational officer Nosakhiwo Ngxaza tabled a pre-sentencing and probational report yesterday to assist Judge Richard Brooks in setting a suitable sentence for Baleni.
“The children of the deceased are still devastated and grieving the killing. They call for a life sentence. They say they have been robbed of a father and suffered physiologically, emotionally and financially,” said Ngxaza, who was led by state prosecutor Advocate Nomapha Mvandaba.
Kholisile had three children before he got married while he and Baleni have one child. She has three children from previous relations.
The court heard that one Kholisile’s children had dropped out of university since her father’s death as they could no longer afford the fees.
Baleni, 47, and the man who actually pulled the trigger, hitman Bonga Skolpati, 23, are yet to be sentenced.
Kholisile, 49, was murdered on October 28 2015.
While Baleni’s biological children expressed “shock and dismay” at the crime, they asked that she be released soon.
Baleni has four children of with three different fathers. The father of two children aged 21 and 24 is a teacher at Little Flower Secondary School in Qumbu while the father of a 17-year-old child is believed to be working in Mbizana.
The youngest, a 12-year-old daughter, is the child of both the accused and deceased.
“The youngest child made a plea that her mother be released soon saying since her arrest she has never received any family visitors at her boarding school in Port Shepstone,” said the social worker.
Ngxaza said Baleni’s father Mandlenkosi Oliver Mgutyana and her stepmother, Patience, were still trying to come to terms with the role she had played in the murder.
She called for direct imprisonment while the state called for a life sentence.
Defence counsel Advocate Zola Kekana called for a lesser sentence and a deviation from the prescribed sentence of a life term saying that Kholisile had wanted to have Baleni killed.
The court found that the probational report was short of elements including: ● Prospects for rehabilitation; ● Prospects of re-employment in the education department if one has a criminal record; ● Baleni’s financial status; ● The pensions of both Baleni and Kholisile; and
● Their assets and the placement of the children.
The matter was postponed to May 8 for the information to be added. —