Tebogo Msimanga |
The High Court in Polokwane on Wednesday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for murdering the Modikwa Platinum Mineworkers in 2018.
The court found that the accused Sipho Khumalo aged 32, Philemon Makwana (37) and Thabo Mogala (31) had on 02 April 2018 petrol bombed a bus transporting the Modikwa Platinum Mine workers along the R37 road outside Burgersfort.
The fourth accused, Kaogelo Moime aged 30 was convicted in 2019 after he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for six counts of murder and 10 years for forty-seven counts of attempted murder.
Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo of Limpopo Police said six mineworkers were burnt beyond recognition and forty- seven others managed to escape with burn wounds.
Mojapello added that a task team consisting of Crime Intelligence, Limpopo Tracking Team, Limpopo PIU and Cluster Detectives was established soon after the incident and the team managed to arrest the suspects and positively linked them to the crimes.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe and the Provincial Police Management have welcomed harsh sentences handed down by the court.
