A 28-year-old woman named Mologadi Magdeline Mehlape has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her father. Her father, Dr Malekutu Johannes Mehlape, worked as a circuit manager in the Limpopo Department of Education. The case was heard in the Polokwane High Court.
The court gave her a life sentence for the murder and an extra 15 years for robbery with serious conditions. But both sentences will happen at the same time, meaning she will serve them together.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) explained that the murder took place on December 28, 2023, in Mankweng Zone 1, near Polokwane. Dr Mehlape was attacked in his bedroom at night. He was shot several times while sleeping, and the attackers also stole things from the house, like his phone.
According to NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the murder was planned by Mologadi after she spoke with a traditional healer named Hlologelo Klaas Mogotlane. He told her that her father used witchcraft (called “muti”) to kill her mother.
When other spiritual methods to deal with it didn’t work, Mologadi and some of her family agreed to pay R200,000 to have her father killed.
On the night her father was murdered, Mologadi helped the killers get inside. She unlocked the gate and the main door to the house, allowing the attackers to enter while her father was asleep.
There are four other people facing charges for being involved in the murder. Their names are Tshepo Gabriel Ranoto, Hlologelo Klaas Mogotlane, Mahlodi Melida Mathole, and Michael Sello Molongoane.
They are accused of helping to plan the murder, commit it, rob the house, and keep illegal guns and bullets. Their trial will continue on June 20.
During her court appearance, Mologadi said sorry to her family and asked the judge to consider her young daughter, who is just 21 months old. She also said she had ongoing problems with her father.
However, the prosecutor, Muneiwa Ratshibvumo, didn’t accept her apology. She said Mologadi didn’t show real remorse and only confessed because of the strong proof against her. The prosecutor called the murder cruel and without feeling.
