18 Years in prison for double murder

Double murderer Hulisani Makhaga (21) of Mashau village in the Thondoni area will spend the next 18 years behind bars.

His case was finalized in the Thohoyandou High Court last Friday.

The case relates to an incident that took place at Mashau village during the night of 31 November 2013. During the incident, Makhaga shot and killed his girlfriend, Tondani Mashau, and her mother in cold blood.

Tondani was in Grade 11 at Maligana Secondary School at the time and Makhaga is the father of her three-year-old boy. He was a pupil of Vhudzani Secondary School and had written the Grade 12 examination when the incident happened.

The court heard that an argument ensued between the two. The centre of the argument could not be established. During the incident, it was testified, Makhaga entered the house and shouted "A thi taliwi", meaning "you can't dump me". The court heard that Tondani's mother had tried to stop him from entering the house, but he pushed her away and entered.

During the argument, Makhaga shot his girlfriend and her mother. They died instantly.  Makhaga fled the house after the incident but was arrested the following day.

During the case, he was described by the court as a dangerous man.

Date:20 March 2015

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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