Image: File/ SUHAIB SALEM
A gang member has been sentenced to 25 years for the murder of a 44-year-old man.
A Port Elizabeth High Court judge found that Masixole Piyo, 21, had shot dead Immanuel Magweze on January 30 2019 after he stopped outside a house in Barberry Drive, Bethelsdorp, at about 3.45pm.
Magweze was sitting in the driver’s seat of his Toyota Fortuner after dropping off three woman when two men approached his vehicle.
Police spokesperson Col Priscilla Naidu said one of the men had been known to Magweze.
The unknown man knocked on the driver’s window.
“When Magweze opened the window slightly, the suspect pulled out a firearm and Magweze immediately drove off,” Naidu said.
One shot was fired through the front window, hitting Magweze in the head.
He then drove into a wall and died in his vehicle, Naidu said.
After the shooting, Piyo ran to the vehicle and took Magweze’s wallet before running off.
Piyo was arrested on February 2 2019 at a house in Kleinskool and remained in custody until his case was finalised.
On Friday, Piyo was sentenced to 25 years for murder, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, seven years for the unlawful possession of a firearm and three years for the illegal possession of ammunition.
All the sentences will run concurrently, effectively putting Piyo behind bars for 25 years.
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