By Doreen Mokgolo
A man who assaulted his heavily pregnant girlfriend with a stove poker for their kid’s social grants will spend 24 years behind bars.
Thamsanqa Somfaka was sentenced by the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday for the murder of Samantha Zungu.
On 13 August, Somfaka assaulted 27-year-old Zungu after she refused to give him R500 from their child’s Sassa grant.
She was certified dead at Pholosong Hospital on arrival.
He pleaded not guilty to the murder.
While handing down the sentence, Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela said the accused didn’t show any signs of remorse and held a cocky outlook throughout the court appearances.
“Those are not the actions of someone who was previously rehabilitated or ready to be rehabilitated.
“You don’t support your children financially or contribute positively to their upkeep and are a danger to the community,” he said.
Maumela added that femicide is like a cancer in this country and every year the government and other organisations hold campaigns to educate and caution against it — yet cases are on the rise.
“Statistics show that a woman is killed every eight hours in South Africa.
“The state in which the deceased was in shows the extent of the attack and pain that you inflicted,” he said.
During the incident, Somfaka told three witnesses, his neighbour, the deceased’s mother and nurses that he found Zungu fighting with his cousin who found her sleeping with another man.
He boasted to the nursing staff at Pholosong Hospital in Tsakani that Zungu should have known better not to make him angry because he turns into an animal when he is angry.
During the attack, the accused was out on parole after serving a 15-year sentence.
Somfaka’s first brush with the law was in 2008 when he was arrested for assault. His previous convictions which date from 2011 range from theft, robbery, attempted murder to possession of illegal substances.
The judge added that all these convictions didn’t send a strong message to the accused to change his ways.
Pictured above: Samantha Zungu
Image source: Supplied
