{"id":28954,"date":"2023-05-22T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T09:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldier-killer-jailed-31-years"},"modified":"2023-05-22T09:40:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T09:40:00","slug":"soldier-killer-jailed-31-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldier-killer-jailed-31-years","title":{"rendered":"Soldier killer jailed 31 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>A famo music gangster who was convicted for the 2017 murder of a soldier at the Maseru border gate was yesterday slapped with a 31-year jail sentence.<br \/>\nHigh Court judge Justice \u2019Mafelile Ralebese sentenced Motlatsi Rantaoana to 20 years in prison for the murder of Private Katleho Seliane at the border post.<br \/>\nThe judge also sentenced the convict to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of Private Halekhethe Nkonyana who survived the shooting.<br \/>\nShe also gave him a further year for the illegal possession of a firearm.<br \/>\nThe judge however acquitted Rantaoana for the murder of a street vendor, Moeketsi Makhabane, because the crown failed to provide convincing evidence that it was him who killed the man.<br \/>\nHowever, Justice Ralebese said Rantaoana\u2019s prison terms will run consecutively, meaning he will be in prison for an effective 31 years.<br \/>\nShe said the fact that Rantaoana has been in prison ever since his arrest immediately after committing the crimes would not make her reduce the time he will spend in prison.<br \/>\nShe said Rantaoana voluntarily decided to be kept in prison for his own protection, fearing that he would be killed if he was released on bail.<br \/>\nJustice Ralebese said that decision had nothing to do with the court as he voluntarily went to prison.<br \/>\nPrivate Nkonyana, who survived after he was shot, said he was very pleased with the sentencing.<br \/>\nHe however told thepost that he remains \u201cvery much traumatised\u201d.<br \/>\n\u201cI felt sorry for him as he never thought he would be sentenced to 31 years,\u201d Private Nkonyana said.<br \/>\n\u201cSomehow, I am pleased but deep down I am traumatised as I have suffered a lot,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nHe said he spent the whole year of 2018 without going to work as he was still nursing wounds caused by Rantaoana.<br \/>\n\u201cI have an operation which I am still nursing even today,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nPrivate Nkonyane said he can now have some rest as justice has been served for him and his loved ones.<br \/>\nRantaoana rejected an offer by the courts to release him on bail saying he feared that soldiers would abduct and kill him as they had done to three men whom they suspected were his friends.<br \/>\nNine soldiers are facing three counts of murder and abduction in the High Court after they allegedly abducted, killed and drowned Khothatso Makibinyane, his uncle, Paseka Pakela, and Lekhoele Noko.<br \/>\nAll three were working at a construction site in South Africa.<br \/>\nTrouble for them began after they were suspected of having had a hand in the fatal shooting of a soldier at the Maseru Bridge in May 2017.<br \/>\nPrivate Nkonyana was injured in the shoot-out.<br \/>\nThe soldiers, who were in plain clothes, had approached a group of young men and wanted to search them after they suspected that they were carrying unlicensed firearms.<br \/>\nMakibinyane and his uncle Pakela were members of a notorious famo music gang called Phula-Bobete (Eaters of boiled blood).<br \/>\nAs the soldiers tried to disarm the gangsters, a gun-fight ensued.<br \/>\nIt is said members of the new group thought the soldiers were members of a rival gang.<br \/>\nAlthough Makibinyane and Pakela were part of the gang, there was no evidence that they took an active part in fighting the soldiers.<br \/>\nThe police later released them without pressing any charges.<br \/>\nHowever, their families have said soldiers abducted them and their bodies were later retrieved from Mohale Dam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\">Lesotho<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. A famo music gangster who was convicted for the 2017 murder of a soldier at the Maseru border gate was yesterday slapped with a 31-year jail sentence. High Court judge Justice \u2019Mafelile Ralebese sentenced Motlatsi Rantaoana to 20 years in prison for the murder of Private Katleho Seliane at the border post. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-28954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Soldier killer jailed 31 years - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldier-killer-jailed-31-years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soldier killer jailed 31 years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. A famo music gangster who was convicted for the 2017 murder of a soldier at the Maseru border gate was yesterday slapped with a 31-year jail sentence. High Court judge Justice \u2019Mafelile Ralebese sentenced Motlatsi Rantaoana to 20 years in prison for the murder of Private Katleho Seliane at the border post. 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A famo music gangster who was convicted for the 2017 murder of a soldier at the Maseru border gate was yesterday slapped with a 31-year jail sentence. High Court judge Justice \u2019Mafelile Ralebese sentenced Motlatsi Rantaoana to 20 years in prison for the murder of Private Katleho Seliane at the border post. 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