Hitman sentenced to 24 years

THE hitman who pulled the trigger killing a deputy principal from a Coffee Bay school in October 2015, was yesterday sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by the Mthatha High Court.

On March 10, Bonga Skolpati, 23, was found guilty by acting Judge Mpumelelo Notununu of the October 27 2015 murder of 49-year-old Manqobe Junior Secondary School deputy principal, Kholisile Baleni.

Skolpati was yesterday sentenced to 20 years for murder, three years for possession of an unlawful firearm and one year for unlawful possession of ammunitions.

The charges will run concurrently with the 20-year sentence for murder.

Skolpati, who is from Ncerha Village One and Sun-City Factory township in East London, has been in custody for 13 months since his arrest by the Hawks at his girlfriend’s village in Willowvale.

Skolpati was hired by Baleni’s wife, Noluthando, 47, and her boyfriend and witchdoctor, Khayalethu Makhubalo, to kill Baleni.

Noluthando, who has since confessed to her role in the murder of her husband, bought Makhubalo a R40 000 car as a token of appreciation for the murder of her husband.

Hardly two months after Baleni’s murder, Makhubalo, who is believed to be from Ndlambe village in Peddie, died in an accident near Butterworth while driving the vehicle Noluthando had bought him.

Notununu said he had departed from the prescribed life sentence because of compelling and substantial circumstances. These included:

Skolpati’s youthfulness in that he was 21 when he committed the offence;

That Makhubalo as his herbalist, may have swayed Skolpati when contracting him to carry out the murder;

That Skolpati was unsophisticated having only passed Grade 4; and

That he was a father of a three-year-old child.

“Although he faced premeditated murder he was not part of the original planning, but was roped in as a hitman and promised R11 000 – money that he never received,” the judge added.

Noluthando’s trial was on Thursday postponed to May 8 subject to the provision of a pre-sentencing and delivery of a probational report. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za