A packed gallery exploded into ululations, but it was the tears of two protagonists – convicted triple murderer Pontsho Mohlanka and the man who nailed her, Warrant Officer Vuyo Mzazi – that caught the eye.
Mohlanka, a tavern owner in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, was yesterday found guilty of killing three children – Mzwandile Zitho, 5, in April 2020, and the double murders of Simphiwe Mgcina, 6, and Mpho Makondo, 8, in September 2020 – just five months apart.
As people in the gallery celebrated when the high court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate's court concluded its judgment and found Mohlanka guilty of the brutal murders, Mzazi buried his face in his hands and wept.
Two rows in front of him stood Mohlanka as acting judge Lillian van Wyk handed down the court's verdict.
Moments later, she sat down and started weeping.
"You're crying for nothing. You can't be crying. We are the ones who should be crying because we are the ones who lost children," yelled Mzwandile's grandmother Nompumelelo Zitho as soon as Van Wyk left the packed courtroom.
Mzazi, oblivious to the commotion that erupted in court, sat quietly with tears rolling down his face. There was a pile of dockets next to him. “I’ve been waiting for this moment. This is what I wanted,” Mzazi told a fellow investigator who offered him a handkerchief.
Mzazi further said the triple murder case drained him emotionally, adding that his children have the same names (Mzwandile and Simphiwe) as those that were killed by Mohlanka.
The deceased were all found naked with no visible wounds on their bodies. Mzwandile was found between a counter and fridge inside the tavern, while Simphiwe and Mpho's bodies were found not too far from the tavern.
The court heard that postmortem reports revealed that the three children died from suffocation.
During cross-examination, Mohlanka told the court that the children were killed by a creature sourced by her boyfriend to grow their tavern profits. The boyfriend turned state witness and is under witness protection. The court ruled that he should not be named.
But in her judgment, Van Wyk did not entertain allegations of a human blood thirsty creature, saying she would not accept the version as it was not put to her lover in court.
Van Wyk said the state’s case was strengthened by evidence collected in the form of cellphone records, fingerprints taken from a handwritten note found tied to Simphiwe’s body and brilliant investigative work by the police.
“Evidence presented in this court proves that the accused is responsible for the deaths of Mzwandile, Simphiwe and Mpho. These were premeditated murders. The deceased were not randomly targeted,” said Van Wyk.
“The accused had time to plan on how and when these children would be killed. The state proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and it is on these reasons that this court finds the accused guilty on three counts of murder.”
Mohlanka will be sentenced today.
The children's families called for three life sentences.
“I am satisfied with today’s judgment. I hope the court will give her a lengthy sentence. People like Mohlanka must not be allowed in our communities. The police did a brilliant job but the sad part is that I will never see my child again,” said Simphiwe's mother Busisiwe Mgcina.
You're crying for nothing. You can't be crying. We are the ones who should be crying because we are the ones who lost children
“Honestly speaking, I doubted the lead investigator (Mzazi) because I heard rumours that he had received cellphone messages from Mohlanka. I don’t know what was said in those messages but I suspected that Mohlanka had offered him a bribe to make these cases go away.
"I was surprised and happy when I heard that the messages sent by Mohlanka were used against her in this trial. The investigating team did a brilliant job and deserve to be praised,” said Zitho.
Orange Farm community leader Linda Ndebele shared similar sentiments, adding that the community would organise a petition to demolish Mohlanka’s tavern. “We want that house to be turned into a community park. That place caused us a lot of pain and for us to heal it must be completely destroyed,” said Ndebele.
Orange Farm residents could not attend the trial proceedings daily due to transport challenges, but yesterday their ward councillor organised three taxis to take them to court to show support for the affected families.
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
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