Byline: Nonjabuliso Nhlambo
10 July 2023
A 40-year old man, Johannes Tau Phala, a Lesotho national, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by Bethal Magistrates Court for murder.
His conviction came after he was arrested by Detective Sergeant Andreas Strydom and Detective December Jele just a day after committing the crime and he appeared at Bethal Magistrates Court for stabbing and killing his brother, Joseph Phala.
On Saturday, 08 August 2021, police were summoned to the scene where they found the body of Joseph lying in a pool of blood covered with a blanket and the Mpumalanga Emergency Medical Services personnel, Mr Maxwell Lukhele Lukhele, certified Joseph dead.
It is alleged that on the said date, a group of people were drinking in the house at Vaalbank farm near Bethal and a fight broke out between the deceased and Johannes, where he(Johannes) stabbed the deceased multiple times with a knife and died on the scene.
Warrant Officer Mkateko Maluleke, an official draughtsman and photographer at Secunda Local Criminal Record Centre also attended the murder scene where she took photographs and conducted a swab from the knife which was found on the scene.
After the cruel act, Johannes left the scene and he was later arrested in Embalenhle outside Bethal. Johannes then appeared several times before Bethal Magistrate Court facing a charge of murder.
Recently, during the trial, police officers, including the detectives and other witnesses testified and presented evidence before court which led to the sentencing of Johannes.
After presenting evidence and testimonies to the court, the Magistrate saw it fit to keep Mr Johannes Tau behind bars and sentenced him to 10 (ten) years imprisonment and in terms of section 103 Act 60 of 2000 of the Firearm Control Act, he was declared unfit to possess a fire-arm.
