20 YEARS FOR FIERY DEATH
Guilty of murder after dousing his girlfriend with petrol and setting her alight
MPHO Thobane, the man who torched his girlfriend in the Joburg CBD in 2018, is set for a 20-year prison stay.
Thobane, 30, was sentenced in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday after being found guilty of murder.
He is said to have doused his 32-yearold girlfriend Viwe Dalingozi with petrol in her sleep and set her alight.
Two days later Dalingozi was declared dead by the hospital.
After the incident, Thobane reportedly fled to Limpopo, where he was later arrested by police.
Maletsatsi Ngoashe, the couple’s neighbour, testified against Thobane during the trial.
Ngoashe revealed that she heard the couple arguing and 10 minutes later saw Dalingozi screaming and running while on fire.
“She was on fire and she was screaming that nditshisiwe uMpho (Mpho has set me alight). I saw a huge flame coming from her flat and I followed her as she was running towards the stairs,” she said.
Magistrate Hambokazi Thwele came down hard on Thobane, stating that this was a clear case of gender-based violence (GBV).
Thwele described Thobane as a coldblooded killer who contributed to the ever-rising rate of GBV.
Thwele said the country was faced with challenges of GBV, with cases of women and children abuse growing every day.
According to Thwele, Thobane’s defence team had argued for a lighter sentence than the minimum prescribed
sentence considering his age and time spent in custody.
However, the State was firm on its stance that Thobane had shown no remorse and that there were no valid reasons to deviate from the minimum sentence.
The court also heard that the victim’s mother had struggled to cope with her daughter’s gruesome killing and as a result suffered from depression.
The uncle, Fezile Dalingozi, said the family and community back in Eastern Cape would welcome the sentence.
“We are glad that it’s finally over, we’re happy it has come to this stage. It has been a painful journey … not a nice experience,” he said.
The uncle touched briefly on the family’s memories of his niece, saying that she was a loving person.
“Very sad memories of our beloved Viwe. We only wish that the scourge of GBV can come to an end in our country because a lot of our kids are dying at the hands of these perpetrators.”
During the sentencing, Thwele explained to Thobane that it was well within his right to appeal the sentence.
Reacting to the magistrate’s ruling Fezile Dalingozi said: “Well, there is no amount of action that will bring back Viwe’s life.
“Not even a life sentence, which is what we hoped for, will bring Viwe back. The family will sit down and discuss the proceedings and we will thereafter take a decision.”
He made reference to Jessy Dixon’s song titled, The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling.
“We are hoping for such days that these wicked people in our communities will at least stop what they are doing. This does not have to happen anymore to anyone.”