By: Vuyolwethu Nzolongwane
Former Warrant Officer Mthunzi Mbelwana and his girlfriend Lebohang Mbola were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment at the Bhisho High Court on April 16, for the murder of Mbola’s ex-husband and his girlfriend in December 2017.
The pair murdered Themba Mbola and his girlfriend Andiswa Mhlontlo at their NU14 home in Mdantsane where they lived together with their daughter and Mhlontlo’s two children.
The National Prosecuting Authority Regional spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said that the couple, Mbelwana and Lebohang fraudulently applied and claimed for an insurance policy that they had taken out on Mbola worth R60 000.
Ngcakani added that, In October 2017, Mbelwana applied for and received an insurance life policy on Mbola. In the application, he fraudulently submitted he claimed to be Mbola’s cousin.
“In November 2017, Lebohang applied for and received an insurance life policy on Mbola. Mbelwana and Lebohang then conspired to murder Mbola to claim the benefits under these policies,” said Ngcakani.
On the night of the incident, Lebohang and Mbelwana tied up Themba at gunpoint and forced him to drink petrol before setting him alight and later shooting him in the head and doused Mhlontlo with petrol and setting her and the house on fire then fleeing the scene, leaving the children inside the burning house.
Mhlontlo and her tenant managed to escape from the burning house and rescued the kids and were later taken to hospital where Mhlontlo succumbed to her burn wounds but not before telling her family and the police who was responsible for the ordeal.
Lebohang was arrested the same night at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital where she had gone for her burn wounds. Mbelwana was arrested in June 2018.
The couple was further sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for each of the four attempted murders, seven years for arson, five years for unlawful possession of a firearm, five years for unlawful possession of ammunition and five years for fraud.
According to one of the residents Vuyiseka Poni, the couple should have received a longer or a life sentence while others are calling for the death penalty.
“I think that they should have been sentenced to life imprisonment because they are the reason why three children are orphaned without a place to call home, they have robbed those kids of a loving home and have robbed them of a happy childhood. They should rot in jail with no possibility of ever being released,” said Poni.