Life in jail for Limpopo pastor who killed woman on roadside

The Polokwane high court on Thursday sentenced a 31-year-old man from Bolobedu to life imprisonment for the murder of a woman in 2021. 

Ngwako Elvis Selowa-Makhotoka, a businessman and pastor from Jesus Christ Grace Ministries in Kuranta village, shot dead Thabiso Lethube Masie on August 7 2021. 

Masie and her friend were driving from Shikiming village when they came across the accused and his friend, who pretended their vehicle had broken down and they needed assistance. The accused and the deceased were known to each other.  

“The deceased stopped her car and alighted to find out if the accused [had problems] with his car; that’s when the accused shot her five times,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said. 

Selowa-Makhotoka instructed his friend to mislead the police about the identity of the person who shot Masie and to clean up her vehicle to eliminate possible fingerprints and gun residue by using methylated spirits.  

The friend of the accused later became a section 204 state witness. 

Selowa-Makhotoka had been on the run for two months when he was arrested at a filling station near Polokwane.  

In aggravation of sentence, state advocate Muneiwa Ratshibvumo argued there were no substantial and compelling circumstances warranting a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence. 

Judge Maake Francis Kganyago, in sentencing Selowa-Makhotoka, said Masie was killed by a person she trusted.  

In addition to life imprisonment for murder, Selowa-Makhotoka was sentenced to five years for illegal possession of a firearm, two years for possession of ammunition and one year for attempting to defeat the administration of justice.   

Limpopo director of public prosecutions Ivy Thenga welcomed the sentence and congratulated Ratshibvumo and investigating officer Eric Mathebula of Mokwakwaila police station. 

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