A former Eastern Cape high school teacher has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for shooting an on-duty traffic officer dead at a busy intersection in Mthatha.
He was also declared unfit to own a firearm.
But, unusually, Siphesonke Galoshe, 36, was praised by the judge for showing genuine remorse for his crime, and speaking out about his painful upbringing.
Galoshe shot King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal traffic officer Daniel Mxoli, 62, three times — first in the right knee and then twice in the chest — during a heated exchange after the officer pulled him over in the Mthatha CBD on October 10 2022.
After the shooting, Galoshe walked back to his car and drove home.
The next day he handed himself over to police.
During sentencing on Wednesday, Mthatha high court judge Richard Brooks said Galoshe’s compelling personal circumstances had allowed him to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
The judge said while Mxoli’s murder could be seen as premeditated, it was in fact a flash response triggered by Mxoli.
“[Mxoli’s] behaviour was inciting, traumatising and highly unprofessional.”
On Thursday last week, an emotional Galoshe changed his plea to guilty, breaking down as he apologised to Mxoli’s family.
He said he had been high on drugs and had drunk excessively the night before.
He told the court he had still been under the influence of alcohol when he drove to the intersection where Mxoli pulled him over.
Mxoli smashed Galoshe’s windscreen as he instructed him to stop.
Galoshe said: “The officer moved to the front of the car and hit the windscreen so hard it broke.
“He ordered me to stop, but I could not stop in the middle of the road and there was already a traffic jam.
“I drove looking for a safe place to park and there was none.
“I drove across the traffic light and only managed to stop near Studio 88, on the red line.”
He then switched off the engine, removed the car keys and his licensed pistol.
“I walked back to the traffic cop and ... I confronted him as to why, when pulling me over, he had hit and broken my windscreen.
“He did not respond but poked me in the face and I poked him back and he hit me with an open hand and said he’d shoot me.
“As his hand went to his holster to reach for his gun, because of my anger — I don’t know where it came from — I shot him three times, and he fell.”
On Wednesday, the judge praised Galoshe for showing genuine remorse for his offence, adding that the next day he had handed himself over to the police.
Brooks then lashed out at the traffic officer’s conduct, saying he had been highly provocative and his actions had triggered Galoshe’s violent response.
The judge said: “He showed immediate remorse, and it is genuine. This was not self-pity.”
The judge said that it should also be noted that the night before the shooting Galoshe had consumed excessive amounts of liquor and cannabis.
“If sober he would not have done what he did.”
Galoshe told the court of his difficult upbringing, growing up without a father, mocked and abused by other youngsters and even by his uncles.
“The mockery and the abuse he suffered as a boy and his much-suppressed anger played a significant role,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he hoped Galoshe would benefit from prison rehabilitation programmes.
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