CRI/T/23/84

IN THE
HIGH COURT OF LESOTHO

In the
matter of

REX

NOTHOKILE
TJONGA

JUDGMENT

Delivered
by the Horu Mr Justice J L. Kheola on the 21st day of March, 1985.

The
accused is charged with murder in that upon or about the 26th
December, 1983 and at or near Sixondo in the district of Qutlung
the
said accused did unlawfully and intentionally kill one Noluslie
Frans. When the charge was read to her the accused tendered
a plea of
guilty of culpable homicide. The Crown accepted the plea The facts of
the case are as follows Prior to the 26th December,
1983 the accused
and her husband had a quarrel regarding a love affair between the
deceased and the accused's husband. As a result
of that quarrel the
accused did not sleep at her marital home on the 25th December, 1983.
On the following day i e the 26th December,
1983 the accused found
her husband and the deceased making love in the veld She threw stones
at them and they ran away in opposite
directions. She followed the
deceased who ran in the direction of her home As she passed above the
village the deceased saw one
Nonembile Tjonga and called her
Nonombile went to her and asked her what was wrong She told her that
the accused was furious because
she had found her with her husband in
the veld. She asked Nonembile to plead with the accused on her
behalf. At that stage the
accused was still some distance from them
Nonembile ran towards her and tried to speak to her but she ignored
her and continued
her chase of the deceased till they arrived at her
(deceased's) home.

At the
time they entered into the house Nonembile was still some good
distance away. When she eventually came to the house she noticed
that
the deceased had already sustained a wound on the forehead and she

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was
sitting down while the accused appeared to be hitting her with fists
She intervened and tried to separate them, but the accused
attacked
her and appeared to be hitting her with fists. She got confused and
went out of the house She then realised that she had
been stabbed on
the shoulder She never returned into the house but went to her home
leaving the accused and the deceased in the
house. As a result of the
alarm that was raised the husband of the deceased together with other
people went to the house They found
that the deceased had already
died. She had several stab wounds on her chest and back.

According
to medical evidence the deceased died as a result of pneumothorax
both sides - in the right thorax there were two stab
wounds
penetrating the thoracical wall, in the left thorax there was one
penetrating wound The three wounds on the chest penetrated
the lungs.
There were other five wounds on the body I think the Crown did the
right thing by accepting the plead of guilty of culpable
homicide.
The wronqful act or insult committed by the deceased was of such a
nature as to be likely to deprive the accused of the
power of
self-control as it amounted to provocation as defined in Criminal Law
(Homicide Amendment) Proclamation No 42 of 1959
I find the accused
guilty of culpable Homicide. In passing sentence I took into account
all the mitigating circumstances brought
to my attention by Mr. Addy
on behalf of the accused I do not agree that this is a case in which
a suspended sentence would be
appropriate. The accused did not come
upon the infidelity of her husband by chance, they had quarreled
about it and were not living
together for a day or two because of
this quarrel. It is very unusual for a Mosotho woman to go about
armed with a knife The accused
chased the deceased for a long
distance and during that period her temper ought to have cooled down
slightly. The law in its care
for human life requires the sanctity of
human life to be

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emphasised
in the punishment imposed, where there is substantial moral blamewor
thiness on the part of the accused (R. v Ncube,
1965 (4) S.A. 231)

Sentence
Four (4) years imprisonment of which half is suspended for 3 years on
condition that during the period of suspension the
accused is not
found guilty of any offence involving violence to another person
committed during the period of suspension.

My
assessor agrees.

J L
KHEOLA

JUDGE

21st
March, 1985

For
Plaintiff Miss Nku

For
Defendant Mr. Addy