What message does this send to South Africa ?

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Reb Da Rebel

thats total bull!

Maybe the judge should serve the rest of this guys sentence if he feels so sorry for him. Bet you things would've been different had the tables been turned and it was one of his loved ones who'd been killed.

Snorkie

The article speaks for itself.....it is an ACTING JUDGE....and look at his surname, acting means its usually a "previously disadvantaged advocate" that is given a chance to be a judge for a little while to make himself feel better. I hope the State Advocate will appeal the sentence..........it is so pathetic, but then again what do you expect.....

midnite_tequila

Rehabilitation my ***... he's a proven scumbag, and now he's going to Scumbag Academy, courtesy of our tax money, so that he can learn from the experts...

styviesblu

Murder is murder, plain and simple.
The circumstances behind this murder are just as criminal, nothing like battered wife syndrome. He trespassed on this ladies property, gained unlawful entry for the sole purpose of stealing her possessions, and murdered her in cold blood.
How can a Judge even begin to think of mitigating circumstances? Shouldnt judges be there to punish and condemn, not to sympathise with the criminal?
This is sending a very bad message.

Pixel

Same as the message that gets sent to SA, when a man arrested for rape gets released on R300 bail, and man arrested for fraud gets released on R50 000 bail.

Being previously disadvantage does not give you the right to harm others. If this is the way our country is going, soon it will be pointless even having a judicial system in place.

And why was the judge not taken to task on clear favoritism, yes he sentenced the man, but it was a favorable sentence...that is not fair.

What happened to fair and just?

Alf Garnett

Lise hits the nail on the head but unfortunately this is how it is going to be for South Africans going forward when you have incompetent Political appointees in the Judiciary. You only have to look at every other walk of life in South Africa where these people are appointed into positions which they are incapable of fulfilling and witness the corruption and destruction.
Zuma will be interested and if he eventually faces a Court of Law he will probably demand (as they all do -never ask) for him to preside over the case.

Good question HD……a star on your way……

I would accept mitigating factors as stated……but I have a problem with attitude of the convict…….has he shown remorse…Not from what I read…..given that how did the judge come to his conclusion that the convicted “could be rehabilitated in jail and one day enjoy a life with his family.”

Maybe I should try to get full court record and study it…….but if there had been no remorse then I’d say this sends a bad signal…….there are many poor members of the community from across different races who have not resorted to criminality…….I’m aware that you wanted to avoid a question of race here…..but the truth is that this creates the perception that it is alright to kill a white person and claim poor background…….perception is everything in politics!!!!

Commander MJ

That is a load of kak. What kind of justice is that? GRRRRRR!!! It makes me really angry. It is one thing trying to understand the reasons why someone may commit a crime, but this kind of excusing a crime because of it or lowering the sentence is an insult to the victim and all decent members of society.
Ek is in my moer nou!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slacker

This is outrageous! Only an idiot would think like that judge did.
Unskilled? But skilled enough to use a firearm and to get it as well. And skilled enough to plan and execute an attack like that. Skilled enough to get a girl to sleep with him and not once but several times to make lots of babies. I couldn't persuade a girl to do that. He knew what he was doing. I believe there will be justice one day for this guy.

Commodore

What a mess hey, HeavyD? But without saying too much, on this end, many similar cases have also been let off lightly, because they have placed the blame squarely on the fact that they were on drugs whilst committing the crime. It makes me angry.

T.I

Utter nonsense! The judges ruling is sending out a negative picture. Every single murderer or criminal is going to play that card now!

romeoitaly

Well, it's official now, poverty leads to/causes/is responsible for murder - according to the geniuses controlling this country.

It's what the ANC have been saying all along, to the outcry of many - poverty is the cause of (all) crime. This decision only confirms what the politicians have been saying.
Next,
poverty causes rape....watch this space.

cakes4africa

This says: Go ahead, if you are PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED, then do what you like, murder, rape, steal. This has set a sad precedent for future cases.

There surely must be millions of people who have "children and four mouths to feed, came from a disadvantaged background, never went to high school" etc. And the majority of them seem to live fairly decent honest lives.

This just shows how "two-faced" our system is.

hlnlange

In any case where there was a guilty verdict, the guilty party has the opportunity to put forward his/her circumstances to ensure that the correct and fair sentence is given. This is normally done by social workers, pshycologists or someone appointed by the court. It doesn't matter if you are black or white - the same rules apply. E.g If you look at battered wife syndrome. The wife kills her husband - do you think it's fair to ignore the circumstances in a case like that? And how do you decide who has the right to put forward their circumstances?

How do I get a thumb's down for stating a fact on how the system works? WOW is that not what you wanted to hear?

Did you know that in our system - a judge will always make his decision based on a previous decision as platform. As soon as he makes a new ruling - it changes the whole system. Do you really think that a guy that doesn't have the qualification will be able to pull of something like sitting on a bench unnoticed without being competent? Really - I think you're confusing it with corrupt officials that's presenting the evidence.

That's exactly my point - Thank you.

Tebidy

I would agree if a murder was not commited, but to use disadvantaged as a reason to committ murder is no excuse, he didn't have to go that extreme. They had no reason to murder!!! The irony also is the fact that he has mouths to feed, by the time he gets out the children will be big and probably independent by then. In my opinion this is another calculated ruling in scaring and speeding up the process of white population into migration

LBB

thats africa for you!!

they the ''black people'' say that we the 'white people'' just came in and took their land... but forget to stop and think what we gave them!!!

i gave up on Africa a long time ago

I am the daughter of 1820 settlers but apparently that is not African enough

Darth Vader

If I was living in SA, I would not trust the law anymore. When anyone from the government say that some guilt has to be proven in the country's courts first, I only smile. The judicial system in SA is corrupt. You guys living there should start to accept it as the standard, because a corrupt judicial system leads to corrupt government officials and that leads to a more corrupt judicial system, and so on and so on.
The judge is probably another affirmative appointee anyway. Isn't it amazing how many people from a previously disadvantaged group with "no access to decent schools", all of a sudden pop up with all the qualifications to be a judge and others are the murderers and thieves.?
In my understanding of the judiciary system, of any country is, that it takes many years of study and experience in a court room to be qualified as a judge. Especially when it comes to the regard of murder cases.

cheri

The way i see it no matter who or what you are or come from, you always have a choice not to do the wrong things - and if you do the crime you should do the time, because despite the fact that they know it is wrong, they still choose to to it, for whatever the reason is that does not make it right in my opinion

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