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Flavio Hlabangwane humiliated his cousin and lover Tshepang Pitse and was manipulative towards her.
This is what judge Cassim Ismael Moosa said when he sentenced Hlabangwane in the Johannesburg high court, sitting in Palm Ridge, on Tuesday.
“From the evidence led by the state, it is clear that the accused humiliated and was manipulative towards the deceased. Further that he had previously been violent towards her,” he said.
The court noted that Hlabangwane wanted to dictate the terms of the trial by providing a narrative favourable to himself in his plea explanation with the hope of dictating the type of sentence to be imposed if convicted of murder.
“Further, the contents of the plea explanation cannot be termed as facts,” said Moosa.
The judge said that he carefully considered the totality of the evidence with the view that there was no reasonable possibility that the judgment of Hlabangwane was impaired at the time when he stabbed and dismembered the body of Pitse “as this court had found that he acted with the degree of planning and premeditation”.
“I am of the view that the accused attempted to commit suicide upon arrest and by doing so created an atmosphere of invoking sympathy to support his narrative of the offence.
“The accused failed to provide any proof to support his allegations that the consumption of drugs had played a role in the commission of a crime. To this end there is no credible evidence to support such allegations by the accused in respect of himself and the deceased,” he said.
The 28-year-old confessed to killing Pitse, saying he plotted to do so after discovering she had been unfaithful to him. He murdered and dismembered Pitse two years ago.
Hlabangwane was sentenced to life in prison and to a further 10 years for defeating the ends of justice and 15 years for violating a corpse. The two sentences will run concurrently with that of life imprisonment.
Moosa said the case reminded him of the sentiments made by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the second gender-based violence and femicide summit at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on November 1 2022.
He said Ramaphosa had said the manner in which “all these murders and rapes happen tells a story about our society that is deeply disturbing”. He said it was a story of a nation that was seemingly at war with itself but, much worse, it was a story of a nation at war with its women and children.
He said civil society was up in arms regarding the rampant increase in the scourge of crimes that are being committed against women and children.
He said civil society organisations have highlighted a steady increase in gender-based violence cases and have argued that this phenomenon has left SA as one of the most violent countries outside a war zone.
“It is clear to this court that incidents of domestic violence in the past two decades show no signs of decreasing. Government has identified domestic violence as a national scourge resulting in legislation and national projects to educate and create awareness,” he said.
Moosa said it was clear from the evidence that the killing of Pitse was senseless.
He said Hlabangwane’s version that Pitse was unfaithful to him stood to be summarily rejected.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the careless and savage killing of women cannot be normalised and the NPA would continue to push for stringent sentences for perpetrators of gender-based violence.
“Credit goes to prosecutor Johan Badenhorst and investigating officer Sgt Nxumalo for ensuring that justice is served,” she said.
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