The Western Cape High Court on Thursday sentenced Vusumuzi Potelwa, 35, to life imprisonment for the murder of his 8-month-old daughter Khwezi Mtshengu by dosing her with paraffin and setting her alight in in Du Noon, Western Cape in November 2019.
In April this year, the court found Potelwa guilty of murdering his daughter, Khwezi and attempted to kill his former girlfriend, Sivuyisive Mtshengu as well as assault and arson. Potelwa dosed both mother and child with paraffin on 19 November 2019 during an argument, but only the mother survived the incident.
Mtshengu fled the scene leaving her child behind after Potelwa’s alcohol-driven rage led him to dose her and the baby with paraffin during an argument. She went back to the house the next day and found that her little girl had died.
Acting Judge Constance Nziweni described the incident as “shocking and tragic”. The post-mortem revealed that the paraffin was concentrated on the girl’s face and she the smoke consumed her ability to breathe, which cased her to suffocate and die a very painful death. She said from the evidence it is clear that potelwa killed the child in order to make the mother feel pain.
“I highly suspect that you killed your own flesh and blood for spite… It is unfortunate and sad that Khwezi was caught up in the middle of her parents’ squabbles and she paid the highest price for that,” Judge Nziweni said.
She further said Potelwa showed no remorse for the crime he had committed.
“You have shown no empathy for what you did. Instead, your lack of remorse, empathy or guilt was clear at times you would laugh or smile. What is disturbing is that it appears that you don’t appreciate the magnitude of your actions,” Judge Nziweni said.
Source: News24, IOL, The Citizen