Man gets 18 years for role in torture, murder

ONE of five men accused of viciously torturing and murdering a Grahamstown man they believed had stolen a laptop last year was sentenced yesterday to 18 years’ imprisonment.

Siviwe Gqotholo‚ 30‚ hung his head as Grahamstown High Court judge John Smith described the torture and murder of prominent former Rhodes student‚ writer and activist Thembelani Qwankanisa‚ 29‚ as brutal and callous in the extreme.

In his plea statement last month, Gqotholo described how he and four other men had repeatedly beaten‚ burnt and stabbed Qwankanisa‚ and poured boiling water down his throat to get him to confess to stealing the laptop of then third-year Rhodes student and citizen journalist Thembani Onceya.

Onceya‚ his two brothers, Akhona and Simamkele‚ and friend Mzwanele Maki have pleaded not guilty.

They remain in jail pending their trial after being denied bail. Their trial was separated from that of Gqotholo after he opted to plead guilty.

Qwankanisa’s ravaged body was found wrapped in a carpet and dumped in a community dam.

Smith said this type of violent and cruel crime came before the courts with alarming frequency and society expected the courts to impose sentences which reflected its abhorrence.

During the torture, Qwankanisa’s teeth were pulled out with pliers. He was also burnt with melted plastic and his genitals were stapled.

The Grahamstown community was outraged by the way in which Qwankanisa had been murdered and his body dumped.

Senior state advocate Heinz Obermeyer prosecuted while attorney Templeton Solani defended Gqotholo.

The trial of the other four accused will begin on December 4.