Johannesburg,South Africa

The Pretoria High Court has handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Ramatsela Ramushu for killing her boyfriend Mthetheleli Gwanya.

Ramatsela Ramushu is a 36-year-old woman from Mooikloof Ridge,Pretoria East who was found guilty for killing her lover Mthetheleli Gwanya two years ago in a ruthless manner.

According to Lumka Mahanjana,NPA Regional Spokesperson,Gauteng Division:Pretoria,a week before Ramushu killed the deceased,she discovered that the deceased that the deceased had a girlfriend and two children she was not aware of.

The information which was presented to the court shown that Ramushu had plan to kill Gwanya before inviting him to her place of residence.

Mahanjana continued to say,after the discovery,she invited the over to her place at Mooikloof Ridge.On the morning of 31 April 2021,Ramushu prepared breakfast for the two of them and poured sleeping pills in the deceased drink.The deceased became drowsy,and it was at that point that Ramushu handcuffed him,poured boiling water on him,and assaulted him several times with an axe on his neck until he died.After,she wrapped his body with a blanket and left it in her garage.After cleaning the scene,she tried to commit suicide by drinking petrol and fled the scene with the deceased's car.

Unfortunately,Ramushu's plan to escape to hiding failed when she fainted inside the vehicle as she drank petrol after killing her boyfriend and was found by law enforcement in one of the streets of Pretoria.

Mahanjana added that however,she was later found unconscious inside the stationed vehicle at Grasfontein Road,by the metro police and the paramedics who took her to Steve Biko Hostel.On the same day,a missing person's report was opened at Boschkop police station,by the long-term girlfriend after the deceased did not arrive to pick her up and his children.When Ramushu regained consciousness at the hospital,she contacted her family members requesting them to go to her place of residence with the police,where they found the body of the deceased in her garage.Ramushu was arrested the same day at the hospital.

Mahanjana added that,in court,she pleaded not guilty to the charges and told the court that the incident was an accident.When she took the stand during mitigation,she read into the record a letter apologising to the deceased,his family,and her family.Through her legal representative,she asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.However,prosecutor Advocate Andre Wilsenach,told the court that life imprisonment was the appropriate sentence because Ramushu showed no true remorse for her actions,and did not tell the court why she committed the offence.Moreover,Ramushu gave the court a lot of untruthful evidence.Adv Wilsenach also handed in Victim Impact Statements(VIS) compiled by the court preparation officer,Lebohang Lebese,where the deceased's sister,brother and long-term girlfriend expressed how the death of Gwanya affected them emotionally and psychologically.

Ramushu's actions for showing no regrets for killing her boyfriend has angered the judge and the court decided to give a suitable sentence for her crime.

Mahanjana concluded that when handing down judgement Judge Papi Masopa,said Ramushu had no respect for the right to life,the deceased died a painful death in her hands.Not only did she not have respect for life,but she also did not respect the deceased's right to privacy because when the deceased was found he was half naked he added.Furthermore,the deceased's children are now going to grow without a father because of Ramushu's actions.Therefore,the judge said he found that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence and found that Ramushu was a pathetic liar who did not take responsibility for her actions.