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July 17, 2024RHINO POACHER FOUND CONVICTED SENTENCED
July 17, 2024
By Thabiso Nkuna
The Mpumalanga Division of High Court in Mbombela sentenced 36-year-old Sikhumbuzo Shaun Mpangane and 24-year-old Bonginkosi Shakoane to a total of nine life sentences and 60 years in prison yesterday, Friday, July 12, 2024. This was the result of Mpumalanga police attached to the Provincial Anti-Gang Unit successfully investigating multiple murder cases. Six people were murdered by the two prisoners in the Mpumalanga Bushbuckridge Municipality. To protect their families, the victims’ names cannot be disclosed.
Mpangane, an Ellesse Gang defector, founded COVID-19, his own gang. Shakoane and other members were brought into the organization by him. A rival gang member was Mpangane’s first victim, whom he shot and killed two days after being granted parole from prison on December 26, 2020. He was found guilty of possessing an unlicensed firearm upon his parole. One of the victims was able to flee the attack after the first victim was killed.
In Madras, Bushbuckridge, on June 16, 2021, the two prisoners shot and murdered four family members who were dozing off. The victims consisted of two adolescent girls and the parents of the victim who survived the attack on December 26, 2020. The escape victim, who was a member of a rival gang, was also apprehended and is presently receiving a life sentence for murder, according to testimony given in court. They murdered their final victim and set fire to a Bushbuckridge home. On June 20, 2021, Mpangane was taken into custody; on February 11, 2022, Shakoane was taken into custody.
Mpangane received five life sentences for five murder counts, twenty years for two attempted murder counts, seven years for possessing an unlicensed firearm, five years for kidnapping, five years for breaking into a house with the intent to murder, and five years for assault with the intent to cause great bodily harm.
Shakoane received sentences of four life terms for the four murder counts, ten years for the attempted murder charge, five years for the kidnapping charge, and three years for the assault with the intent to cause great bodily damage. It was decided that both prisoners were unfit to own firearms. Major General (Dr.) Zeph Mkhwanazi, the acting provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, has complimented the investigation team for their diligent work, which resulted in a successful conviction.
