Officer’s son murdered by ex-lover
Healer says clients will suffer in his absence
A Limpopo traditional healer who was found guilty of murdering his ex-lover’s nineyear-old son, has pleaded for a light prison sentence saying his clients would suffer without him.
Yesterday, the Limpopo High Court found Jimmy Makhubela guilty of killing Katlego Lesenya from Mozombane Village outside Mokopane. The boy was discovered dead under a bridge on May 30 last year.
The court was expected to announce a sentence today.
The incident happened days after the boy’s mother, police officer Nancy Lesenya, ended her 11-month-old love affair with Makhubela.
Yesterday Makhubela got up to testify during mitigation of sentence just after presiding judge Francis Lesenya read the detailed judgment and declared a verdict.
Makhubela told the court that his three children, mother and clients would suffer if he was incarcerated.
He said the mothers of his children were not employed and would struggle to support them. He asked that he get a sentence of 15-years or less.
Makhubela would not accept any wrongdoing, even after he was found guilty.
“I hear that the deceased was killed but I don’t know what killed him,” he said.
The state had previously called witnesses who testified that Makhubela had pointed out the place where he had dumped Katlego’s body.
Lesenya also testified that Katlego told her that Makhubela had made threats to his life prior to his disappearance. The youngest state witness to testify in the case was Katlego’s sevenyear-old friend who saw Makhubela leave with Katlego in a red bakkie.
Makhubela had denied the state’s version of events, even claiming that his love affair with Lesenya had not ended at the time of the incident.
Prosecutor Sam Ngobeni asked the court for a harsh sentence and said Makhubela had failed to show remorse.
Lesenya said she was relieved that Makhubela was found guilty. “My son’s soul will now rest in peace and we can try to move on,” she said.