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File image: Celebrity Chef, Thembekile Letlape.
The High Court in Johannesburg is expected to hand down sentencing in the Thembekile Letlape murder case on Friday.
Businessman Sibusiso Zitha was convicted of murdering his pastry chef in May last year.
During court proceedings, Zitha cried while testifying for mitigating circumstances. He told the court that the killing of Letlape at their home in Fourways, north of Johannesburg, wasn’t based on just one factor.
The extremely emotional Zitha said he was a broken man, overwhelmed with various problems, when he met Letlape. On the 30th of May last year, Zitha brutally stabbed Letlape in her face and chest, multiple times, in the presence of his 10-year-old daughter.
Letlape succumbed to her wounds. In July this year, 41-year-old Zitha was found guilty of her murder. This is what he had to say during mitigating arguments in court on Thursday.
“It wasn’t one thing; it wasn’t about her. I had problems, I had issues, and I think they piled up to a point where I got triggered. So I was not okay, and I knew I was not okay. So, when I met the deceased, I did mention this to her and one of the reasons I loved her was that she accepted me as I was, and that shouldn’t have been the case.
“On the night of the incident, it wasn’t about that particular night, but we had a fight, there was an exchange of words, unpleasant words about a sensitive topic and I’m touchy which is my late parents and I snapped, I snapped and I couldn’t stop myself, until I saw her body laying on the floor,” he explained.
Zitha asked Letlape’s family to forgive him.
“Ntate Letlape, Tebogo, Mamazo, there aren’t words to describe what I have done and the pain that I have caused you. I’m deeply, deeply sorry for what happened and for the pain that I’ve put you through. I’m sorry, I’m very sorry I betrayed you. I should have been more open with you, I should have been more forthcoming with you about my own personal problems that were impacting my relationship with Thembi but I had my own pride issues that got in the way and led to her passing and I ask you to please if you can find it in your hearts to one day forgive me for my actions, it wasn’t my intention.”
Dr. Kgosi Letlape says he constantly wonders what the family could have done after their daughter was admitted to an incident of abuse at the hands of her partner. He says what happened is irreversible and it has shattered his family.
“It has been devastating for all of us. I never thought a person could experience so much pain. The whole family is gutted and will never be the same again. She was the glue of the family. So when issues of history of domestic violence came up, I asked her if he had ever laid a hand on her and she said yes, but once and it’s all in the past; he’s going for anger management and they’re working on the issues that they need to work on. I ask myself what we could have done and we knew she loved him, and I sit and say she died for love. But what pains us most is, we saw the signs of trouble in the relationship and what we ask ourselves is, could we have done more and we were pleading with her to come back home.”
Letlape further disclosed that his family was battling to forgive themselves after the gruesome death of his daughter. He says his thoughts are preoccupied with measures that can be implemented to prevent other families from experiencing the deep pain they’re feeling.
“I think we’re battling with forgiving ourselves. So, we’re not yet at a point where we could talk about forgiving someone else. Because as we battle with forgiving ourselves, it impacts our daily lives and it is not because of being selfish, but we’re not there yet. So it’s a real challenge, just in terms of coping with a situation in this country and being in a position I am now, as a politician, as a lawmaker, I ask myself how we protect the girl children. So it’s very difficult to be talking about forgiveness when you have ongoing violence against women and I ask myself as a man, what’s wrong with us. And having felt this deep pain, my preoccupation is how do I ensure that no other family goes through what we’re going through.”
Zitha said he thought of committing suicide.
“But I thank God for her at some level. After the incident, I was shocked that I could do something like that, and I just wanted it to end; I wanted the misery to end. I was tired of pain and suffering and I thought to hell with it and I said that to her. I said I did something wrong and I wanted to kill myself and she said: ‘No, daddy, don’t, I still need you’. That’s the only reason I didn’t go through with it, and I will serve whatever sentence I must serve, I will do whatever time I need to, in a form of repentance, I will do, so I can go back out and be with her and hopefully try and repair what has been damaged.”
The defence has asked the court for a 10 to 15-year sentence, while the state asked for a life sentence.
