POTCHEFSTROOM – The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, welcomed the life imprisonment sentence handed down to Ofentse Andries Konjo (37) on Thursday, 10 March 2022, by the Bloemhof Regional Court.
On Saturday, 27 March 2021, a 50-year-old man was reported missing by his family. During police investigations, witnesses who were minors, came forward and explained how their own father (Konjo) killed the victim with an axe on Sewefontien Farm, near Bloemhof. They further pointed out an old grave on the farm where the victim was buried. Konjo was ultimately arrested on Wednesday, 5 May 2021 and appeared in the Bloemhof Regional Court the same day. The court did not grant him bail and he remained in custody until he was sentenced.
In another unrelated incident, Bloemhof Regional Court found a 24-year-old Eva Tau, guilty for murder on Thursday, 10 March 2022. This verdict came after police who were on patrol met Tau, holding her boyfriend, Piet Tsimanakwe Wageng (38) in her arms, with a stab wound on his chest in the early hours of Monday, 20 July 2020 at Protea Street, Bloemhof. She alleged that her boyfriend was stabbed by two unknown men who fled the scene. Emergency Medical and Rescue Services (EMRS) paramedics were immediately summoned and took Wageng to the Bloemhof Community Health Centre where he died shortly after arrival. Police investigations revealed that Tau and Wageng had an argument at his place, whilst in the company of friends. Tau, during the argument, pushed Wageng outside the house and stabbed him. Sentencing will follow shortly.
Lastly, an 18-year-old, Zwelethu Victor Sengwape, was also found guilty for murder by the Bloemhof Regional Court on Thursday, 10 March 2022. Sengwape was found guilty in connection with an incident in which the then 16-year-old Sengwape, on Monday, 21 September 2020 murdered a four-year-old girl. According to information presented before the court, Sengwape took the four-year-old girl to an open field (dumping site, situated in Extension 5, Boitumelong, next to the N12) where he raped and strangled her to death. The accused was arrested after being handed over to the police by a local pastor whom he (Sengwape) confided in that he killed a young girl and left her body in the bushes. Sengwape made his first court appearance on Wednesday, 23 September 2020. Sentencing is expected to take place, pending the pre-sentencing report by a social worker.
The Provincial Commissioner applauded the Bloemhof Investigating Officers and all other role players including prosecution for their diligence in ensuring that the accused are convicted which he said will serve as a warning to those who perpetrate serious crimes that they will do their time in jail.
Source: South African Police Service