Girlfriend gets 12 years in jail for Flabba murder
[caption id="attachment_73359" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Nkululeko 'Flabba' Habedi. Picture: TimesLIVE[/caption]
Sindisiwe Manqele has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for murdering her rapper boyfriend Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi.
The Johannesburg High Court has ordered that she must serve at least two thirds of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
She must also undergo programmes on anger management‚ self-esteem and life skills while in prison‚ Judge Solly Sithole said on Thursday.
Earlier‚ Manqele's defence advocate argued that she did not deserve to go to jail because she had not acted out of anger‚ jealousy or malice when she stabbed Habedi in the chest on March 9 last year in his home in Alexandra‚ Johannesburg.
[caption id="attachment_100840" align="alignright" width="226"] Sindisiwe Manqele has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for murdering her rapper boyfriend Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi.[/caption]
Manqele‚ 26‚ was found guilty in December of murdering Habedi‚ 37‚ who was a member of hip-hop group Skwatta Kamp.
She had pleaded not guilty‚ saying she had acted in self-defence during a fight between the couple.
Advocate Norman Makhubela argued earlier on Thursday that Manqele did not have a propensity for violence.
He said she did not act out of anger‚ jealousy or malice when she stabbed Habedi‚ but she believed her life was in danger.
“[T]he original victim‚ because they took a decision to assert themselves […] became a villain‚” Makhubela said.
Makhubela further said the fact that Manqele had overstepped the bounds of self-defence did not make her a candidate for incarceration.
Prosecutor Paul Schutte‚ however‚ argued that the court should impose imprisonment on Manqele.
He argued that she had not shown any remorse and had not taken any responsibility for her actions.
“She elected not to testify in mitigation‚ [making it] difficult for the state to probe her mind. It makes it difficult to see whether there was true remorse‚” Schutte said.
