Cape Town - Three years after the horrific shooting at a 21st birthday bash, which led to the death of Annie Hodson, the three gunmen have been sentenced to life imprisonment for their crimes.
Moegamat Hartzenberg, Jonathan Witbooi and Marawaan Safaar were sentenced in the Mitchells Plain Regional Court on Friday. Each was slapped with a cumulative sentence of 47 years for the shooting that also resulted in minors being wounded.
During the incident in October 2021, the 31-year-old mother of three, Hodson, was killed after the gunmen opened fire at partygoers in Montclair Drive, Mandalay.
Hodson was attending the birthday party of her niece, Rabia Gordon, when she was struck.
Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg, said the trio each received life imprisonment for murder, five years for attempted murder, 15 years for possession of an unlicensed firearm and two years for the illegal possession of ammunition.
“On October 16, 2021, the accused stopped in front of a house in Montclair Drive and started shooting at the people who were celebrating a 21st birthday party. They wounded eight people of which an adult female later died in hospital.
“The case docket was assigned to Sergeant Bradley Schuurman of the Anti-Gang Unit who, with due diligence, started his investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
“He collected crucial evidence and witnesses statements and presented it before court and the accused were found guilty on July 25, 2024.”
Tasneem Hodson, 40, said her sister’s death devastated her young children who were since taken in by relatives.
“At the time of the shooting her youngest daughter, Malia, was only eight months old and didn’t even get a chance to get to know her mother.
“She is three years old today and now lives with her father, but we always keep the memory of her mom alive and show her videos. She is very clever, she understands that her mother is in heaven.”
The older sister said the shooting left their niece so traumatised that she no longer celebrates her birthday, while other children who survived the shooting still carry the scars of bullet wounds.
“We are in awe of the justice system. We know we won’t get her back but we are happy that justice was served.
“We are very grateful to Lentegeur police who acted so fast to get these guys arrested and very grateful to Schuurman who held our hand through all of this and worked very hard to ensure they were found guilty.”
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus