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An uncle, who was found guilty of having sacrificed his nephew in a Satanic ritual, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Sipho Vincent Maseko from Ekangala township, which falls under the City of Tshwane, was found to have killed his one-year-old nephew.
The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday ordered that should the correctional services department consider the 37-year-old for parole, the mother of the deceased should be informed and make representations.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said on 30 September 2020, a day before the deceased turned a year old, Maseko, who is the brother of the deceased's mother, visited his parental home, where the child was left with the helper because the mother had gone to work.
Mahanjana said:
According to the spokesperson, when the helper returned from the shop, she found the lifeless body of the child tucked inside the bed covers. Mahanjana added that after a few hours of hiding, Maseko subsequently called his family.
"When he heard the commotion of the community over the phone, he went to the police and handed himself in and has been in custody since."
Mahanjana explained that in court, Maseko pleaded guilty to the charge of premeditated murder and in his plea said he killed his nephew as a form of satanic sacrifice to have money, and the day he killed the child he was not himself- the devil took over him.
The spokesperson added:
Mahanjana said during the sentencing proceedings, the prosecutor, Advocate Andre Wilsenach, read into the record the victim impact statement facilitated by the court preparation officer, Lebongang Lebese, where the mother of the child described her brother as a monster and devil himself and told the court that the incident left her emotionally damaged.
She added: "She went through a phase of consuming alcohol to try and numb the pain, which resulted in her miscarrying her pregnancy because of stress and inability to sleep. The mother, who now has a four-month-old baby, said she feared for the child, that what happened to her deceased son could happen again."
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In aggravation, Wilsenach told the court that Maseko did not show true remorse as he never apologised to the family for what he did, further pointing out that "he sacrificed the child because he wanted fortune and was motivated by greed."
Therefore, he asked the court to impose a just sentence of life imprisonment.
Judge Mashudu Munzhelele agreed with the State that Maseko was motivated by greed and, instead of taking responsibility, he shifted the blame to the devil. He failed to protect a child who suffered at the hands of his own uncle.
