MPUMALANGA – “There will be no stone left unturned in Mpumalanga when it comes to crime, more especially where a firearm is involved,” proclaimed the Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Zodwa Mokoena. She was celebrating the victory after a rigorous criminal, Bhuti Khuli Khumalo (48) was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment by the Nelspruit Regional Court on Thursday, 11 August 2022 for murder, unlawful possession of automatic firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

The sentence followed a brutal incident which occurred on 16 December 2015 at Clau-Clau, Kabokweni where the accused entered the house of his then girlfriend and fatally shot her mother in front of her and her siblings. The couple had an argument prior to the incident. The accused then left the crime scene.

The investigation was transferred to the Nelspruit based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation where the accused was traced and apprehended from his hiding place at Kabokweni on 16 February 2016. During his arrest, he took the police to his house at Zwelisha where he pointed out the firearm he used during the commission of the crime.

The accused appeared in court several times and he was granted bail. He absconded and his bail was revoked. The police did not rest until he was traced and arrested while trying to flee to Mozambique in 2019. He was then kept in custody until his conviction on 12 May 2022.

Khumalo was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison for murder, 15 years in prison for unlawful possession of firearm and three year imprisonment for unlawful possession of ammunition.

The court ordered that the sentence for murder and firearm should run concurrently. He was further declared unfit to possess firearm.

Source: South African Police Service