Ngwako Elvis Selowa –Makhotoka was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.
A pastor of Jesus Christ Grace Ministries in Kuranta village Bolobedu was recently sentenced to life imprisonment for murder by the Polokwane High Court.
Ngwako Elvis Selowa –Makhotoka (31), who is also a businessman was found guilty and convicted of murder, illegal possession of firearm, possession of ammunition and attempt to defeat the administration of justice.
According to an indictment, on 07 August 2021, Thabiso Lethube Masie (deceased) and her friend were driving back home from Shikiming village in Limpopo when they came across the accused Pastor Selowa and his friend (witness) pretending that their vehicle had broken down and needed assistance.
The pastor and the victim were well-known to each other. The victim stopped her car and alighted to find out if the Selowa is not encountering any challenges with his car, that’s when the pastor shot her five times.
After the shooting, the pastor fled the scene. In an attempt to conceal his deeds by instructing his friend to mislead the police about the identity of the person who shot the victim and to clean up the victim’s vehicle to eliminate possible fingerprints and gun residue using methylated spirit. The friend of the Selowa was later turned into a section 204 state witness.
During the trial the court heard that the pastor and his friend went to the tavern to buy some beers. On their return to the pastor’s home, the pastor told his friend that he had a job to do and he was armed with a firearm. He stopped his motor vehicle, alighted and pretended that their car had a mechanical failure whereas the pastor knew that the victim will soon be driving along the same road. Indeed, the victim and her friend emerged driving not knowing that the Selowa was waiting for them.
The victim stopped her car to find out if the pastor is not encountering any challenges with his car so that she can assist him. She then alighted from her car and suddenly the pastor shot her several times. She was rushed to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The pastor was on the run until two months later when he was arrested at a filling station near Polokwane.
In aggravation of sentence the state advocate Muneiwa Ratshibvumo argued that contract killing had become very prevalent in our communities and harsh sentences were warranted.
She further argued that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances warranting a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence in order to send a clear message to other would-be criminals.
Judge Maake Francis Kganyago, in sentencing the Selowa, stated that the victim was killed by a person whom she trusted. The court further remarked that, the accused was an evil man who hides behind a pulpit, a wolf who disguised himself in a sheep skin. The murder of the deceased was carefully planned and executed. The accused did not show any remorse.
The court also said that although Selowa was 29 years of age during the commission of the offence there was no evidence to show that his youthfulness played any role in the commission of the offence.
Therefore, Selowa was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, five years direct imprisonment for illegal possession of firearm, two years direct imprisonment for possession of ammunition and one year direct imprisonment for attempting to defeat the administration of justice. The sentences in counts two-four were ordered to run concurrently with the sentence in count one and the effective sentence is life imprisonment.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Ivy Thenga welcome the sentence and hope that the sentence will indeed send a clear message to the other criminals who preyed for the vulnerable and congratulate advocate Ratshibvumo and Investigating Officer, Eric Mathebula of Mokwakwaila police station.