NC man gets 20 years for killing former girlfriend

A KURUMAN man will spend the next 20 years behind bars after he killed his former girlfriend because she was talking to another man.

The Kuruman Regional Court sentenced 33-year-old Olebogeng Magara to 20 years direct imprisonment for murdering his then 40-year-old former girlfriend.

She died on December 19, 2016 at Batlharos village near Kuruman, when Magara visited a local tavern and saw her speaking to another man.

He approached her and physically attacked her, asking her why she was “speaking to other men in front of him”. Magara then stabbed her with a sharp object. She tried to run away but collapsed and died on the scene.

Magara also attacked the victim’s friend, who tried to go and get help from her family.

Magara was arrested on the same day and had been in custody since, after bail was denied due to the fact that he had a pending case of assault against him also involving his former girlfriend.

The Kuruman Regional Court sentenced him to 20 years for murder, three years for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and six months for assault common. The sentences will run concurrently. He was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS, Lieutenant-General Risimati Shivuri, welcomed the sentence and commended the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Mpho Basekiseng, for the “sterling” investigation that ensured that Magara received a prison sentence.

“The sentence will also serve to deter other perpetrators of genderbased violence and also shows that the law takes crimes committed against women seriously.”