It was during this altercation that the accused produced a firearm and pursued the victim, the two, it was heard, were both in a sexual relationship with a woman of the same village.

The accused, it is said, fired four bullets at the fleeing victim; but missed him. The victim fled to the house of the duo’s girlfriend to hide, and was found by the accused hiding behind the door after forcefully gaining entry into the house, still wielding a firearm.

At this second confrontation the accused managed to shoot the victim on the neck, with the bullet piercing through and leading to profuse bleeding by the victim.

In his defence, the accused pleaded not guilty claiming he was not in the area at the time of the incident, and that he had attended to some other personal business in another village.

Handing down sentence, the Senior Resident Magistrate, Nkuebe Ramabele, noted the seriousness of the crime. He added the accused could have resorted to other measures to resolve whatever may have caused bad blood between the two.

He said the accused deserved to be removed from society to which he posed a danger, “…to attend a number of rehabilitation sessions so that in future upon return he will be able to live peacefully with his neighbours.”

The case was prosecuted by Senior Crown Counsel ‘Mabahlokoa Ntšinyi.