The Western Cape High Court has sentenced two members of the notorious Gupta gang in Khayelitsha to 14 life sentences following a mass murder at a local shebeen more than four years ago.
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Gcinithemba Beja and Fundile Maseti returned to court this week after Judge Daniel Thulare determined that they were responsible for the March 8, 2020 shooting.
They went on trial last year, facing seven counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and firearm-related charges.
According to the ruling, they pleaded not guilty and state witnesses who had been placed under witness protection were called to testify.
According to court records, the night before the murders, Ntandazo Mthera, the tavern owner, was hosting a birthday party with relatives when four armed men arrived and opened fire, killing him and six others.
The next day detectives visited Tygerberg Hospital to speak to the surviving victims but noticed a patient trying to hide his face with a blanket. Cops discovered it was Beja who had been mentioned as a person of interest, and had allegedly been shot by one of the victims.
He claimed he was shot in an attempted robbery, but after an investigation cops arrested him along with his co-accused.
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During the trial a state witness close to Mthera revealed he was a 28s gang member and along with Beja and others, they were also former members of the Boko Haram gang. They eventually split off to form the Guptas.
He went on to tell the court that on the night of the murders, he saw Mthera running home with a firearm and bleeding, and as he assisted him, gunshots rang out. This is when the witness claims he saw Beja, who claimed to have been shot by Mthera.
The witness claimed that after reporting the shooters at the cop shop, members of the Gupta gang approached him and asked what he was doing at the police station. He lied, claiming he went to certify documents.
According to the judgement, the gang had become well-known for extorting businesses owned by Somali nationals who were required to pay protection fees in order to operate in the township.
Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, a police spokesperson, stated that the case was investigated by Warrant Officer Zinele Ngqola, who faced a ‘gruelling onslaught’ from the defence lawyer.
‘He stood his ground and was praised as a credible witness.’
During sentencing, Judge Thulare likened the crime scene to the ‘Wild Wild West.’ He claimed that extortion has become fashionable, accusing Khayelitsha police officers of becoming accomplices in the criminal enterprise, but that the conviction and sentence in this case ‘brings hope.’
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