By AgTZANEEN: A 50-year-old man, Golden Mbalati, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a 51-year-old woman. The sentence was handed down by the Tzaneen Regional Court on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
According to the court report, on February 3, 2021, the accused, a security officer, was on duty at a clinic at Bellevue in Greater Letaba when he signed out the company’s firearm and left his post, going to his residence.
Upon arriving home, he asked the victim, his girlfriend, to accompany him to pick some fruit outside their residence.
Before they reached the fruit, the accused grabbed the victim, took her to nearby bushes, and shot her in the upper body. He then left the firearm at the scene and fled on foot.
His colleague became suspicious and reported to the accused’s employer that the accused had last been seen leaving his place of duty and had not returned.
The victim’s child also became suspicious when his mother did not return home with the accused.
On his way to check on his mother, the child found her lying unconscious on the ground with open gunshot wounds and immediately notified the police.
Emergency Medical Services personnel were also notified and, upon arrival, declared the victim dead at the scene.
Investigations revealed that the firearm used belonged to the security company and had been signed out by the suspect a few minutes before the commission of the crime.
The case was assigned to Detective Constable Lerato Rampedi of the Bolobedu Detective Services for investigation.
Through her investigative skills, the accused was arrested in 2022 and denied bail until his release by the court in 2023.
He was found guilty on March 17, 2025, and sentenced on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, to life imprisonment for murder.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, welcomed the sentencing and praised the investigating officer, Constable Lerato Rampedi, for working relentlessly to ensure the culprit received a severe punishment.
