Pretoria - As we near the end of Women’s Month, the court made it clear that it will not tolerate femicide when it sentenced a Mabopane man to life imprisonment for slitting his former girlfriend’s throat.
Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Judge Papi Masopa said the rate of femicide was extremely high in our country and a strong message should be sent to perpetrators that this would not be tolerated.
The judge said Jim Dipugiso Phago, 35, deserved nothing less than the ultimate sentence. He could find no substantial and compelling circumstances to impose a lesser sentence than the maximum of life behind bars. .
This follows Phago’s conviction for killing his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend, Mosidi Kopanye. She was an administration clerk at the Temba Magastrate’s Court in Hammanskraal.
Phago, known as Gregory, murdered his ex-girlfriend on May 25, 2018. She had ended their relationship but on that day Phago fetched her from work at the court.
He drove to a secluded area near the Wallmansthal Army camp where he slit her throat several times. Her body was found by police later the same day.
Phago was arrested when he returned to the crime scene with a friend.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of murder but denied it was planned. The State led the evidence of several witnesses that he did plan it and he was subsequently convicted of pre-meditated murder.
Shortly before her death, Kopanye posted on Facebook that: “If a relationship is not working out, people should call it quits and move on.”
The state argued that the fact that it was a planned murder was aggravating and the accused did not show remorse.
The murder had a severely detrimental effect on the family and two minor children of the dead woman.
Pretoria News