Durban – Not wanting to “sacrifice him on the altar of public opinion” a Durban high court judge has sentenced the young man who murdered Kloof resident Rodney Bradley to 25 years in jail, deviating from the prescribed sentence of life because he had pleaded guilty and showed remorse.
“The present crime wave cannot be put at his door and I cannot be blinded by anger and sentence him for the crimes of others,” Acting Judge Rod Callum said in handing down sentence to Siyande Majozi, 23.
If Majozi is paroled after serving two thirds of his sentence, he will be released in about 17 years – a prospect that angered Bradley’s fiancée, Therese Carlson, who attended the hearing on Tuesday.
“He will be younger than I am now if he is released. He should have got life imprisonment. We will see how serious this government really is about eradicating crime (from) when he is released,” she said, wiping away tears.
Carlson has not been able to return to the Igwababa Road home in which she lived for 23 years and which she shared with Bradley – whom she had met at school. The bullet holes remained in the walls and she did not know if she could go back.
Bradley, 55, opened the front door to let their dogs out on April 5 when he was confronted by a gang of three.
Alerted by Carlson, who was in the bedroom, that men were coming up the garden, Bradley armed himself with a stick. But it was no match for the gun the men had and while Carlson was locked in the bathroom she heard the shots go off.
Soon the men were banging on the bathroom door, demanding she open up. When she did not, shots were fired through the door.
In his plea Majozi described how he and his two accomplices had armed themselves and waited 20 minutes for Bradley to open up. After Bradley had been shot, they had stepped over his body and started ransacking the house.
The judge said the extent of the grief suffered by those affected by violent crimes was “all too plain to see” in the testimony Carlson gave.
“The fear she must have experienced as the assailants were beating at the door… coupled with the horror of trying to resuscitate her fiancé has in all probability left mental scarring,” he said.
Society was not only alarmed but enraged by these crimes and some were losing faith in the justice system.
“They argue that there are no circumstances that justify anything but imprisonment for the life of the offender, that release should only come through death behind bars… that homes are no longer refuges and safe havens. But justice requires me to guard against imposing a sentence that is designed simply to reflect indignation and outrage.”
He believed Majozi had shown genuine remorse by pleading guilty and giving detail in his plea beyond the “strict requirements”.
Majozi had been under the influence of his cousin – the gang leader – and had played a lesser role in the crime. He had also been willing to testify against his co-perpetrators, one of whom was in custody. The other was being sought.
Acting Judge Callum sentenced Majozi to 15 years for robbery, ordering that 10 years run concurrently with a 20-year sentence for murder.
The Mercury
