A ruthless man who massacred his family over a R20 000 financial dispute will never see the light of day again after he was sentenced to four life terms in jail.
Thobani Kesa was found guilty and sentenced by the Eastern Cape division of the High Court of South Africa that sat in Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape on Tuesday.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the 39-year-old convict wiped out his father, mother, sister, and niece in 2018. He first assaulted the family before burning them to ashes inside their home in Tienbank, Sterkspruit.
Luxolo Tyali, regional spokesperson for the NPA, said before the family mass killing took place, Kesa and his brother were asked by their parents to build a house at their homestead with a promise to be paid for their labour.
“They were paid a deposit and they started constructing the house, but did not finish [the project]. They demanded [a balance of the] payment despite not having finished [building the house], and that led to a quarrel,” Tyali said.
“The two brothers approached the local small claims court demanding R20 000. In the presence of a court clerk dealing with their claim, Kesa accused his mother of being a witch and demanded that she pays him or face death.
“As a result, his mother and father obtained a protection order against the brothers, and they left [their home] to stay in another village.”
At the time of his arrest after the dead bodies had been discovered, Kesa was found with blood-soiled clothes.
“The blood found on his clothes was linked through a DNA to the blood found on the scene, which belongs to his mother, an indication that the deceased may have been assaulted before being burnt to death.”
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