JUSTICE has been served for Nwabisa Gwabeni (39), brutally killed in 2021. Gwabeni was killed by her boyfriend Meloxolo Pasiya (49) over an argument in Tsolo, Eastern Cape.
In a plea and sentence agreement entered into with the state, Pasiya admitted that he was in a domestic relationship with Gwabeni and that they were cohabiting at her home in Nkanini. On the morning of the incident, he arrived at the Gwabeni’s home under the influence of alcohol, and upon his arrival he found the deceased and her daughter at home.
The daughter opened the gate for him before leaving her mother alone in the house with him. “Pasiya admitted that he and the deceased argued, as their relationship was characterised by jealousy and frequent quarrels and during the argument, he became angry, lost his temper and shot the deceased,” NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said.
He added that Pasiya also pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm at the deceased’s daughter. Furthermore, he admitted that he defeated the ends of justice by concealing and subsequently selling the firearm used in the commission of the murder.
According to Tyali, this interfered with the investigation, as the firearm could not be recovered, and the cartridges found at the scene could not be linked to the weapon used in the commission of the offence. “The deceased’s daughter, a minor, was the sole eyewitness.
She had opened the gate for Pasiya on the morning of the incident and later heard her mother’s screams from inside the house,” Tyali added. In considering the mitigating factors advanced on behalf of Pasiya, the court found that substantial and compelling circumstances existed to justify a departure from the prescribed minimum sentence for murder.
Pasiya was consequently sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment for murder and the court further ordered that the sentences imposed for unlawful possession of a firearm, pointing of a firearm and defeating the ends of justice run concurrently with the 27-year sentence.
In welcoming the sentence, Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Samkelo Mtwana said the sentence sends a strong message that perpetrators of violence against women will be held fully accountable for their actions.
