The sentencing of Phoenix brothers, Dylan and Ned Govender, who are to spend seven years in jail after being found guilty of assault and attempted murder in relation to the 2021 July unrest, has been met with mixed reaction from the community after they were denied leave to appeal at the Durban High Court on Friday, 18 August.
The brothers appeared before Judge Gregory Kruger who handed down sentences of three years, twelve months and seven years, to be served concurrently by both the brothers. The Govender siblings were initially charged with the murder of 19-year-old Mondli Majola as well as the assault and attempted murders of three others, Mxolisi Phuthuzo, Nkululeko Mangwe and Qaphelani Mkhovu.
Majola and the three other complainants were walking on Desert Palm Road in Palmview on July 2021 when they were attacked by a mob, which included the accused.
“The incidents happened during the looting and public violence that occurred in various parts of KwaZulu-Natal. During this time, the brothers together with other people attacked and assaulted the complainants, who were walking through their neighbourhood,” said KZN NPA spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
In May this year, the brothers were found not guilty and acquitted of Majola’s murder. The court found that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Govender brothers had killed Majola.
However, they were found guilty of assault with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm, acting in common purpose for assault and the attempted murder of the deceased. They were also found guilty for assaulting Phuthuzo and for the attempted murder of Mangwe.
The brothers were also acquitted on charges related to Mkhovu because the State failed to provide sufficient evidence. Mkhovu died, in an unrelated incident in late 2022, before he could testify.
In court, State Advocate Bonginkosi (Bonga) Mbokazi, led the evidence of video footage as well as the testimony of the complainants. Mbokazi also submitted a victim impact statement, compiled by one of the complainants, Mangwe, who said that he was brutally assaulted by the men.
He said the assault left him disabled and unable to work and earn money to support his family. The men were sentenced to three years imprisonment for the assault GBH of Majola, 12 months imprisonment for the common assault of Mangwe, and seven years imprisonment for the attempted murder of Phuthuzo.
“The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently; and further, deemed them unfit to possess a firearm. Their subsequent applications for leave to appeal their respective convictions were refused by the court,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
Nombuso Majola, the mother of the victim, reportedly said that the sentence wasn’t what she had expected, but that justice has been served. “For the fact that this day has finally come and they have been sentenced puts my heart a bit at ease even though it was not what I was looking for in terms of the sentence. I expected them to get something higher because of what they have done to me and my family… but I am happy that we did get something,” she said.
Sham Maharaj of the Phoenix Ubuntu Forum, formed after the July 2021 unrest, said the organisation has always maintained that the justice system must be allowed to conclude their work before any judgements were made in this matter.
He said: “We note with concern the long delays in concluding this case. This is totally unacceptable given the fact that the State claimed to have a strong case. We however, welcome the decision by the courts that found the Govender brothers not guilty on the murder charges. We are however, disappointed that the Governor brothers were given a harsh seven year sentence while many other criminals who committed worse crimes were given lesser sentences. In addition we believe strongly that the courts erred by not allowing any opportunity to appeal this harsh sentence.”
The then Phoenix Community Policing Forum chairperson Umesh Singh also echoed the Forums beliefs. “The sentencing is not fitting of the crime. When it comes to grievous bodily harm (GBV) and attempted murder, seven years is a bit stiff, as is not granting them the opportunity to appeal. We also need to take into consideration the extenuating circumstances of the time. It was not a normal situation. It was a time of full on unrest. That should have been taken into consideration,” said Singh.
