The Clanwilliam Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced Esethu Cawe (26) to life imprisonment for the gruesome murd3r of his girlfriend Relebohile Ncephe in August 2022. The court heard that Cawe from Khayelitsha st@bbed Ncephe 19 times using two knives which broke while he was st@bbing her in front of her minor child. The incident took place less than a month after the deceased obtained an interim protection order against her murd3r3r and four days after it was extended for assa-lting, thre@tening and verbally @busing her.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeseprson Eric Ntabazalila said the court sentenced Cawe Regional court prosecutor Mark Taylor told the court that the couple were cohabiting and when domestic violence started to occur, the deceased moved to her sister’s house and obtained an interim protection order which was served to the @ccused.
On the day of the incident, he repeatedly called her after which she agreed to meet with him in the presence of her sister and her four-year-old daughter also accompanied her. “They started talking and the sister left to give them space to talk privately. During the discussion, the @ccused asked the deceased about her whereabouts the previous weekend. He got angry when he did not get the answers he wanted, gr@bbed a knife and st@bbed her until the knife broke. He gr@bbed a bigger kn!fe and st@bbed her until that kn!fe also broke. He left that kn!fe on her body and was only taken out during a postmortem. This repeated st@bbing happened in front of her child who ran outside screaming.”
Ntabazalila said the court sentenced Cawe to four years of direct imprisonment for breach of the protection order and life imprisonment for murd3r. The sentences will run concurrently. The State’s rejected a plea and sentencing agreement with a proposed 18-year sentence offer from the @ccused and his legal team. “The State rejected the offer based on the severity of the case and its long-term traumatising impact on the deceased’s minor child.
The State believed Ncephe’s de@th was a result of extreme vi0lence and physical @buse by the @ccused,”. he spoke. Ntabazalila said that the st@bbing happened only four days after a protection order against Cawe was extended and was to be confirmed on 08 September 2022. Taylor argued that when court orders are vi0lated, there must be consequences which will lead to communities having faith in the cr!m!nal justice system. The court concurred and sentenced the @ccused.
Source Zimoja
