Johannesburg – A 34-year-old man from Nigel, a small mining town south-east of Johannesburg, has been sentenced in the Pretoria High Court for the murder of his girlfriend.
Brian Thamsanqa Somfaka was sentenced to 24 years direct imprisonment and was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
He was convicted of murder last month.
According to the evidence before the court, on August 13, Somfaka assaulted his 28-year-old girlfriend, who was 38 weeks pregnant, with a steel pipe.
She was pregnant with the couple’s third child.
After the vicious assault, Somfaka called an ambulance that took him and his injured girlfriend to the Pholosong Hospital.
State prosecutor Gerhard Maritz told the court the victim was assaulted for no apparent reason and bled to death, despite the attempts of medical personnel to save her.
Maritz said she was pregnant and defenceless against the attack and said Somfaka had shown no remorse for his actions.
The court heard that Somfaka had seven previous convictions including attempted murder, assault, theft, and the illegal possession of drugs.
During sentencing, Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela agreed with the State that Somfaka had shown no remorse and that he had shown an arrogant attitude towards the victim’s family.
Maumela said it was not acceptable for someone to blame their actions on a harsh upbringing and to think it gave them the right to abuse the rights of others, in this case, killing an innocent person.
The court heard that Somfaka would apply for leave to appeal against his sentence.
The National Prosecuting Authority said it would oppose the application.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL