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South African father who, apparently mistakenly, shot his teenage son dead earlier this year plans to make new representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with the hope of receiving a suspended sentence.
51-year-old Sibusiso Tshabalala, who is facing a murder charge, made a brief appearance in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. “We want to finalise this matter. There is no point in taking this matter to the high court. The man has been through enough,” Tshabalala’s attorney Chewe Machaka told News24.
Machaka also added that, if push came to shove, the charges could be downgraded to culpable homicide.
“If we were to make a plea bargain on a culpable homicide charge, it would not change anything. It will still amount to a suspended sentence,” he said.
In June, Tshabalala was waiting for 14-year-old Luyanda outside his school following an evening class. He says his son found him asleep and knocked on the window. Believing that a hijacking was going to take place, he pulled out his firearm and accidentally shot and killed his son.
The State requested a postponement in order to finalise outstanding investigations, which include the possible introduction of CCTV footage from the school.
Magistrate Maggie van der Merwe agreed with the remand to avoid “unnecessary appearances for the accused”.
The case has been postponed to October 16 to allow the defence to make representations to the DPP while the state finalises its investigation.
Source: News24
