Durban — Ntuzuma Magistrate Ravi Pillay in sentencing 24-year-old Ayanda Shezi for the 2019 attempted murder and the 2021 murder of the mother of his 5-year-old son took into consideration the victim impact statement of the mother of slain Vamisile Langa.
Langa, 19, was killed while at the home of her new lover by Shezi, who stabbed her 22 times and only stopped and fled when the new boyfriend came into the room armed with a bush knife.
This was after he had kicked the door in and pulled out the Okapi knife he had in his pocket in July 2021.
In July 2019, Langa survived after Shezi stabbed her repeatedly at her Inanda home while she was hanging some clothes to dry. Shezi only fled when community members came to the scene.
A month before this Shezi had broken her bedroom window and had tried to pry open a door at her family home, trying to get to Langa who he said was ignoring him.
He pleaded guilty to all these offences explaining that he had consumed alcohol before committing all of them, adding he had killed Langa in a fit of jealous rage as she had left him for another man.
Pillay sentenced Shezi to six months for malicious damage to property and five years for attempted murder, the two sentences are to run concurrently.
He sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment for Langa’s murder.
Langa’s mother, Zondeni Dladla, in her victim impact statement said it was hard to describe the pain the family was going through even to this day.
“The relationship of the accused and the deceased was toxic. At the onset of the relationship the accused had been violent towards the deceased which had a negative impact on our lives. My husband and I also feared for our lives because he also threatened us, we are scared of him. He damaged our property on numerous occasions; our house is leaking when it rains, and furniture is broken. He has ruined our lives,” she said.
Dladla said her grandson no longer had a mother because of Shezi’s actions.
“All this has affected me, I can’t even think straight. I now misplace things in the house because I am thinking too much. I can’t sleep at night. Sometimes I have flashbacks of what I saw at the scene where the deceased died.”
She said their lives would never be the same again adding that there was no peace in her life since the passing of her daughter.
Dladla said she was unemployed and her husband was the only one able to support the family through temporary jobs.
“It was hard to prepare for the deceased’s funeral because we did not have money to bury her. My husband had to borrow money from loan sharks in order for her to be buried. All this has broken my heart. I know that no sentence will ever bring back my daughter, but I wish the law to play its role, then maybe we will have closure.”
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