WORCESTER – Convicted murderer Bongani Banda (22) was sentenced by the Worcester Regional Court to 30 years direct imprisonment for the murder of community worker Herman Nieuwoudt, from Ceres, in May 2023.

He was furthermore sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances as well as five years for theft of a motor vehicle.

The court ordered the sentences for robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft of a motor vehicle to run concurrently with the sentence for murder, resulting in an effective sentence of 30 years’ direct imprisonment.

Banda’s sentence stems from an incident on the evening of 5 May 2023.

Nieuwoudt, an ordained NG minister who retained proponent status and was involved in community work in rural areas at the time of his death, met with Banda and his co-accused, Banele Moya, to discuss their involvement in this work. The men were travelling in the deceased’s bakkie on the R46 near Worcester when they stopped on the side of the road to eat and continue their discussion.

While travelling, Banda and Moya discussed stealing from the deceased. Both were armed with knives. After the vehicle stopped, they produced the knives, threatened the deceased, and robbed him of R3 000 in cash and his cellular phone.

The deceased jumped from the vehicle and attempted to flee into nearby bushes. Banda and Moya chased him, caught him, forced him to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him. They then concealed his body in the bushes and fled in his bakkie.

The pair attempted to sell the vehicle but were unsuccessful. They later abandoned it and went their separate ways. Banda returned to the vehicle the following morning, where he was found by security officers, arrested, and handed over to the police.

Although the court considered life imprisonment to be an appropriate sentence, it found that substantial and compelling circumstances justified a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence.

These included the accused’s admission of guilt, expression of remorse, relatively young age, and prospects of rehabilitation. The court further held that a lesser sentence would still serve the purposes of punishment, including retribution and deterrence.

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Moya was sentenced to 20 years’ direct imprisonment in March this year after entering into a plea and sentence agreement with the State.

During sentencing proceedings, the state argued that robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder, and theft are serious offences that warranted a severe sentence.

The state submitted that the accused acted with extreme violence and that the offences sent shockwaves through the Worcester community and surrounding areas.

It was also argued that the crimes were premeditated, that the deceased’s money and cellular phone were never recovered, and that the victim’s family had lost a breadwinner and suffered significant trauma because of the offences.

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