NPA WELCOMES DISMISSAL OF APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE OF BRUTAL MURDERER
03 JUNE 2025
NPA WELCOMES DISMISSAL OF APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE OF BRUTAL MURDERER
Cape Town, South Africa, The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the decision of the High Court of South Africa: Western Cape Division to dismiss the appeal of the brutal murderer, Esethu Cawe, after it found that the court a quo did not err in imposing the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment. In April 2024, the Clanwilliam Regional Court convicted Cawe for breach of a protection order that was issued on 26 July 2022 in terms of which he was prohibited from assaulting, threatening, or verbally abusing the deceased, Relebohile Nchepe. He was also prohibited from entering her Khayelitsha, Clanwilliam residence, taking her property without her consent or damaging her property. He was also convicted of her murder after he stabbed her 19 times in front of her four-year-old daughter inside her Govan Mbeki Street, Khayelitsha, Clanwilliam, home on 22 August 2022.
Cawe was sentenced to four years' direct imprisonment for breach of the protection order and life imprisonment for the murder.
At the time, regional court prosecutor Mark Taylor told the court that the couple were cohabiting partners in an intimate relationship. When domestic violence started, the deceased moved to her sister’s house and obtained an interim protection order, which was served on the accused. On 22 August 2022, he repeatedly called her, and she agreed to meet him in the presence of her sister. Her four-year-old daughter was also present. They started talking, and the sister left to give them space to talk privately. During the discussion, the accused asked the deceased about her whereabouts the previous weekend, got angry when he did not get the answers he wanted, grabbed a knife, and stabbed her until the knife broke. He grabbed a bigger knife and stabbed her until that knife broke. He left that knife on her body, and it was only taken out during a postmortem. This repeated stabbing happened in front of the deceased’s 4-year-old daughter, who ran outside screaming.
On 09 May 2025, Judge Le Grange heard the accused’s appeal, which State Adv Charlene Monis successfully opposed. His legal representative argued that the court a quo erred in concluding that no substantial and compelling circumstances exist. His circumstances are that he was 26 years old when he killed the deceased and was 27 years old when sentenced. He is a first offender, and there’s no indication that he has been involved in the commission of crimes before. He has a better prognosis for rehabilitation and is less of a threat to society than a serial offender. He has two siblings and had a stable upbringing with a good support system. He was in a relationship with the mother of his three-year-old daughter, who is studying at Nelson Mandela University. The child resides with her maternal grandmother in the Eastern Cape, who receives a child support grant. The accused assists financially.
He was in a stable relationship with the deceased, who was apparently in a relationship with her child’s father. The accused also assisted the deceased financially. He stayed in Khayelitsha, Clanwilliam, and was employed at Patrysvlei Farm and earned R4,000 per month. He handed himself to the police shortly after the incident and cooperated with the police and pleaded guilty. He went to school until Grade 11, and if a chance arose, he would complete Grade 12. He had been in custody for a year and six months until he was sentenced. He had shown remorse by pleading guilty, and his circumstances are of such a nature that, considered cumulatively, they justify the imposition of a lesser sentence than the prescribed sentence of life.
In his judgment, Judge Le Grange said the crime committed by the appellant was very serious. The deceased was viciously stabbed multiple times in her own home. To make matters even worse, the appellant did so in front of her four-year-old girl child. He showed the deceased and her child no mercy. No person, let alone such a young child, should be subjected to such brutality. The psychological trauma suffered by the child cannot be ignored and is an aggravating factor. It is precisely these kinds of crimes that the legislature deemed necessary to prescribe a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment. The court a quo, in my view, correctly found that no substantial and compelling circumstances exist that justify deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence. The appeal against sentence in respect of the murder is dismissed.
The NPA welcomes the dismissal of the appeal, which vindicates its decision to argue for a life imprisonment for such a brutal crime.
Issued by:
Eric Ntabazalila
National Prosecuting Authority
Regional Communications Manager – Western Cape
Tel: (021) 487 7308
Mobile: 073 062 1222