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A traditional healer who murdered his client was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder.
A traditional healer who killed his client and robbed him of a vehicle was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and 12 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The Polokwane High Court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Limpopo police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba said police welcomed the hefty sentences against Tinyiko Simango, 51, for the brutal murder of Victor Phokgedi Lekau, 65, from Ga-Mphahlele village outside Lebowakgomo.
He said the trial court reached its decision to convict the accused after hearing details about how the traditional healer killed his client when he visited his practice at Hlakano village in Zebediela for consultation on May 2 2022.
“The two drove to bushes near Groothoek to perform rituals. On arrival, the accused hit the victim with a wheel spanner, killing him instantly, then drove off in the stolen motor vehicle,” he said.
Simango subsequently drove around nearby villages trying to sell the deceased’s vehicle but failed.
“A few days later, the tracker company contacted the deceased’s family when they could not reach him after they noticed the battery was disconnected.
“That’s when the family went to Lebowakgomo police station to report the matter. A case of a missing person was opened and police commenced with a search operation for the missing man,” he said.
Semango was arrested in the same week of the incident after he was admitted to hospital when the vehicle overturned following a high-speed chase with the tracking company.
He confessed to killing the victim and took police to the scene of the crime, where the body was found in a state of decomposition.
