The man found guilty of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in a jealous rage in front of their two-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Clyde Jonas was sentenced at the Blue Downs Regional Court, nearly three years after he murdered his estranged girlfriend Rhucian-Kay Lawak in Kraaifontein.
Eric Ntabazalila of the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed the sentence: “Clyde Jonas was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for murder.”
Rhucian, 28, was found with multiple stab wounds to her body at her flat at the Scottsdene Rental Estate on 29 September 2021.
On a Facebook page created for the court case, Justice for Rhucian-Kay Lawak, family and friends said they were satisfied with the outcome, while others disagreed and said Jonas should have gotten life in the mang.
The court heard that on that fateful day, Rhucian had been feeling ill, complaining of a headache, and had gone to lie down on her bed with her daughter.
She was employed at Virgin Active as a manager.
Jonas rushed inside the bedroom where he repeatedly stabbed the mom in front of their young child.
The toddler’s hysterical crying alerted Rhucian’s mother, who was staying with her at the time.
Estate manager Niklaas Koopman said at the time: “When she went into the room, she saw him stabbing her repeatedly. Mrs Lawak ran out screaming for help, but by the time help came, her son had managed to disarm the boyfriend and was beating him up.”
Jonas fled the scene and was later arrested.
Rhucian managed to carry her daughter to her mother before collapsing to her death.
At the time, her family said the young mother was murdered because she had dumped Jonas and refused to get back with him because of his abusive ways.
Siya Monakali of Ilitha Labantu says they are alarmed at the sheer number of gender-based violence cases reported in the past year, resulting in over 800 murders over that period.
Monakali says: “Violence against women in South Africa has reached alarming scales as revealed in the second quarter crime statistics covering the reporting period of July and September 2023 indicate that 881 women and 293 children were murdered.
“As an organisation that advocates for the rights of women and children for over 35 years, Ilitha Labantu calls for our criminal justice system to impose the harshest sentences on those who have perpetrated crimes against women and to treat all cases with the same level of urgency and expediency they require.”