Durban - A 53-year-old soldier, from the Polokwane Military Base, has been handed a life term for the murder of his wife in 2019.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the Limpopo Polokwane High Court sentenced Maesela Lucas Ledwaba to life imprisonment for murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a prohibited firearm and defeating the ends of justice.
Judge President Ephraim Makgoba ordered the sentence to run concurrently with the other counts.
Malabi-Dzhangi said the accused and his wife had had an argument at their marital home on the night of October 15, 2019.
“The accused shot and killed his wife, Pheladi Beauty Ledwaba, while she was asleep. Their four children were in the house, sleeping in the same bedroom with the parents.”
Malabi-Dzhangi said that the next morning, the accused had cleaned the room and removed the cartridge.
She said the accused had covered the deceased with a blanket and locked her up in their room. He had then taken two of their children with him to the police station to hand over his licensed firearm.
Malabi-Dzhangi said that during the trial, Ledwaba had pleaded not guilty to the offence but the court found him guilty as charged.
She said that in aggravation of sentence, State advocate Lerato Mohlaka had argued that the accused, despite being employed as a soldier in the Polokwane Military Camp and being a law enforcement officer, had killed the mother of his three minor children.
“He also had a maintenance court order issued against him in April 2022, for an amount of R2010.00, proving that he was not financially responsible for the children, who are currently in the care of their paternal aunt.”
Malabi-Dzhangi said the accused had neither contributed financially towards his wife’s funeral and nor had he apologised to her family and children.
She said the accused had demonstrated no remorse during the trial.
The State had further argued that there were no compelling and substantial circumstances warranting a deviation from the minimum sentence ordained by the legislation of life imprisonment, she said.
“The murder was meticulously planned. He went as far as sourcing a firearm, other than the one he was issued a licence for, and used it,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
The NPA said the accused had also tampered with the scene and removed the spent cartridges.
“This type of gender-based violence crime has no room in our communities. The children of the deceased are left without a mother, and now a father,” she said.
“The NPA welcomes the sentence and applauds the good work of advocate Mohlaka, for making sure that GBV has no place in our communities.”