On Tuesday 25 October, Sivuyile Tshuta (41)was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment by Mthatha Regional Court for murdering his girlfriend. It is alleged that Tshuta murdered his girlfriend while they were on a night out as a couple last year.
Tshuta entered a plea and sentence agreement with the state, and that is where he admitted that he shot and killed his 40-year-old girlfriend Zandile Ntonga with his licensed firearm. According to Tshuta’s plea explanation, on the evening of 17 September 2021, his girlfriend fetched him from his home with her car and went out for a braai and subsequently, they were drinking alcohol. Tshuta said on their way back from the braai they had an argument and he pulled out his firearm and fatally shot the deceased several times.
The National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in Eastern Cape Luxolo Tyali said, “The court has accepted plea agreement and confirmed the sentence as agreed between two parties. The court sees Tshuta as an ineligible to person to ever own a gun again even if he is out of prison.”
Tshuta is married to another woman and has three children, he claims that alcohol played a role in what he did and that he will never commit such crime ever again and takes full responsibility for his actions.
The senior state Advocate Mbulelo Nyendwana argued the offence committed by Tshuta falls under gender based violence and femicide which is not only prevelant in the court’s jurisdiction but the whole of South Africa. Nyendwana also added that what makes the offence worse is the fact that Tshuta killed a defenseless woman in her own car.
