Cape Town - The 23-year-old man who killed his ex-girlfriend and aspiring model Simnikiwe Mfengu has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Western Cape High Court.
Former model Muepa Kasongo, who admitted he killed Mfengu and left her for dead, was ordered to spend 25 years in Pollsmoor Prison as a first-time offender after he stabbed the retail worker 11 times in what he described as a “spiritual” black out.
Kasongo, who was 19-years-old and a student at CPUT when the crime was committed, explained in court that he stabbed Mfengu during a physical altercation after they had spent the night together.
Mfengu was trying to get out of the relationship when Kasongo went to see her at a residence in Silversands in December 2018.
In handing down sentence, Judge Daniel Thulare said: “Six of the 11 stab wounds were on the deceased’s back, which were blows she suffered when she had her back to the accused as she unsuccessfully attempted to flee from the stabbing.
“The accused could not explain why he continued to stab the deceased even after she had collapsed, except to say that he was consumed by some strange spirit,” he said.
“Even when the deceased, while lying on the floor and bleeding profusely, told the accused that she thought that she was bleeding internally, the accused did not call for any medical attention for her. When he realised that she had passed on, he locked the doors and left the deceased alone,” he said.
The judge further noted Kasongo as having a “dual personality”, displaying one kind of behaviour with family and another to the victim.
Judge Thulare said: “In public and with close family, relatives and friends, the perpetrator displays conduct which enhances innocence, self-importance and trust … But the accused had the other side, the reality which was unknown to his family, friends and church.
Taking into account the evidence of gender expert Naeema Abrahams, the judge said: “He killed her to defend his honour and to regain control over her. His externalised blame, where he blames some evil spirit or not knowing why he killed her, projects a failure to take responsibility for his outburst of extreme aggression.”
As part of sentencing proceedings, Kasongo had offered an apology to Mfengu’s family. He said: “I humbly ask for your forgiveness and compassion. I’ve mentioned before that no amount of sorry will ever fix what has happened… I still ask myself why.
“It honestly shouldn’t have happened in this manner. I apologise for the embarrassment and humiliation it brought to the family. Although you might not forgive me today, but I pray the God that consoles the hearts of the Mfengu household. Once again, I truly am sorry.”
But Judge Thulare discounted this apology: “When viewed against his attempt to mislead his own family about what truly happened by not being frank and candid to his own mother, the mind games he attempted with the neighbours where the body was found, and the police about what he did to the deceased, his apology to the deceased’s parents is hollow and shallow.”
In taking account of the interests of society, Judge Thulare said the judiciary was not “cold, aloof and far removed” from the contemporary challenges faced by women in the country.
“We should show that we heed the public’s constitutional call to make the punishment of crimes against women, especially their brutal, cruel and unnecessary killing more severe as part of the overall responsibility of the Republic of South Africa to provide a conducive environment for women to live and love without fear of physical, psychological, economic and sexual abuse and violence,” he said.