The two men convicted of the murder of Ottery pensioners Rugeya and Riedwaan Addinall have been sentenced to a combined 117 years in prison by the Western Cape High Court.
Gardener Gcinlelitha Ngcobelothe and his co-accused Lwazi Ntsibantsiba returned to court yesterday nearly six months after they were convicted by Judge Brian Hack.
The elderly couple, both aged 82, were found strangled in their home on 5 January 2019, while some of their possessions had been packed into their car that was still parked in their driveway.
During the trial, medical experts revealed that the pensioners had suffered severe bodily trauma, while tests revealed that the killers had also shoved Rattex into the the old lady Rugeya’s mouth.
The accused turned on each other during the trial, each claiming not to have been present during the murders.
Ngcobelothe was sentenced to life imprisonment for each murder and 15 years for robbery, while Ntsibantsiba received 20 years for each of the murders and 12 years for robbery.
In his judgement for sentencing, Judge Hack said he found Ngcobelothe appeared aggressive and intolerant towards the State and this counted against him.
Hack decided: “He made repeated allegations of a conspiracy against him.
“I found in my earlier judgement that there was absolutely no merit in these contentions. Further, I observed him becoming irritated and agitated in the witness stand. I do not regard this as indicative of anything related to the crime, but they are factors.”
He said Ngcobelothe showed no mercy to the helpless pensioners when he murdered them and the judge did not divert from the prescribed minimum sentence as he handed down the life sentence to the gardener.
Judge Hack said he took note that Ntsibantsiba was only 20 years old at the time of the crime, and highlighted that he was not familiar with the couple at the time of the murders, as was the case with the gardener.
However, he said Ntsibantsiba showed no remorse and that his role in the murders of the elderly couple were equally as heinous.
But he found reasons compelling enough to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence for him.
He ordered that the sentences run concurrently and Ngcobelothe will serve and effective 25 years behind bars while Ntsibantsiba will mang 20 years.
