Life in prison for men convicted of Mogashoa couple’s murders
Convicted serial killer Rassie Hlabirwa Nkuna and former police officer Jacob Mothibe Chego have been sentenced to multiple life terms for the murders of police couple Lucky and Sabeilewe Mogashoa.
The Pretoria High Court sentenced the two men today, Wednesday after finding them guilty of the March 2022 murders, as well as conspiracy to commit murder. Each received four life sentences for the two murders and the two conspiracy counts. They were also sentenced to five years for kidnapping and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The Mogashoas were travelling along the N12 in Ekurhuleni on 16 March 2022 when they were allegedly lured to the Etwatwa off-ramp. Chego, who was then a police Vehicle Crime Unit officer, falsely told the couple that their vehicle had previously been reported stolen and had been recovered.
The couple were subsequently taken to a nearby field, where they were shot in the head. Sabeilewe was heavily pregnant at the time. Their two young children, who were in the vehicle, were left behind after their parents were killed. The older child, who was six at the time, reportedly carried the younger sibling back towards the N12 and flagged down passing motorists for help.
Judge Samuel Makamu said the families would have to live with the trauma of losing their loved ones in such a violent manner.
Nkuna is already serving life imprisonment for the murders of sisters Pretty and Marcia Mazibuko in Mpumalanga. He is also expected to stand trial in connection with the murder of Hillary Gardee, the daughter of former EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee.
The sentencing brings further punishment for the two men in a case that left the Mogashoa children without their parents and shocked the police community.
