After a decade of anguish and outrage, justice was finally served for an Eastern Cape family when the Mthatha high court sentenced Thando Mgqobhozi to three life terms for the rape and murder of two sisters aged 12 and 15.
The bodies of Siyamthanda Koli, 12, and Cordelia, 15, were found near a forest in Nqadu village, Willowvale, on December 2 2015.
Siyamthanda had been stabbed 23 times, while Cordelia had 33 stab wounds.
Mgqobhozi was already serving a life sentence for murdering an East London taxi driver, a crime he committed while out on bail for this case.
Judge Mbulelo Jolwana said the court’s verdict and sentence was a testament to the unimaginable evil that Mgqobhozi unleashed upon these two young lives.
In addition to the life sentences, Jolwana handed down a further 20-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery.
Jolwana agreed with senior state prosecutor advocate Mbulelo Nyendwana that the crimes were planned and the court should impose life imprisonment.
“Thando Mgqobhozi has not expressed any remorse at all ... there is no hope of a chance that he could be rehabilitated.
“He is just a hardened, cowardly criminal who sees nothing wrong with brutalising young girls for personal sexual gratification and the twisted joy in murdering his victims to hide his criminal conduct.
“He has not said anything or done anything to suggest, even remotely, that he regrets his actions.”
Jolwana said: “Neither Siyamthanda nor Cordelia are here to tell us what happened to them.
“This is because after they were abused in the most horrible manner, they were brutally murdered by being stabbed many times to ensure they would not survive to tell anyone what happened.
“Mgqobhozi's history of violence is disturbing. Two months after his release on bail for this crime in 2023, he gunned down a taxi driver and was sentenced to life imprisonment.”
The court sentenced Mgqobhozi to five years’ imprisonment for the kidnapping of Siyamthanda, 15 years for aggravated robbery of Cordelia’s phone, life imprisonment for the murder of Siyamthanda, life imprisonment for the murder of Cordelia and life imprisonment for raping Cordelia.
The judge declared Mgqobhozi a danger to society, unfit to work with children, and prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
He ordered that Mgqobhozi’s details be entered into the Register of Sexual Offenders and entered his particulars into the National Child Protection Register.
During the judgment, the girls’ parents struggled to hold back the tears. Their father, Mbulelo, was sobbing uncontrollably while his wife, Nofirst, comforted him. Mgqobhozi’s mother was also visibly distraught.
The judge said the Koli family’s pain and anguish had been compounded by the knowledge that Mgqobhozi, while out on bail, went on to commit another horrific act of violence.
“What this means is that had this court not granted him bail, he would not have killed [the taxi driver] on November 24 2021.”
The relieved family said Mgqobhozi's heinous crimes were a grim reminder of the brutality that some individuals were capable of inflicting upon the innocent.
Father Koli said: “It has been a very long and traumatic journey, but we are now relieved, even though it took 10 years, that justice has eventually been served.”
Daily Dispatch
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