DURBAN – Deon Chonco Mathonsi (29), a convicted murderer, was sentenced to five terms of life imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday, 26 January 2026.
According to SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, Mathonsi was found guilty of murdering five people in April 2023.
“The court also sentenced Mathonsi to a further 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances.”
Netshiunda said that on the evening of 8 April 2023, Mathonsi and his two accomplices stormed into a homestead in the Gobhogobho location in Bulwer and shot five men. “Four of them were declared dead at the scene and the fifth succumbed to his injuries in hospital.”
Mathonsi and his accomplices also robbed the women who were present of an undisclosed amount of money before fleeing the scene.
He said KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Murder and Robbery Unit detectives combed the scene for clues and the search for the suspects began.
“Mathonsi was traced and arrested shortly afterwards, and since his arrest, investigators successfully opposed several of his bail applications until Monday, 26 January 2026, when he was sentenced.”
The court also declared Mathonsi unfit to possess a firearm. Netshiunda added that the search for Mathonsi’s accomplices will continue until they are all brought to justice.
