The Director of Public Prosecutions, Gauteng Division, Pretoria v Portia Thulisile Tsotetsi

The respondent was convicted in the Gauteng Division of the High Court on two counts of premeditated murder. On count 1, she orchestrated and participated in the murder of her husband, Mr Sithatu, in February 2012 by hiring accomplices, administering sleeping tablets, and staging the killing to resemble a suicide by hanging, motivated by financial gain. On count 2, she participated in the murder of Mr Ngubeni in May 2012, one of the accomplices in the first murder, after luring him to her shack and killing him to prevent blackmail and extortion. Both murders were planned and executed with the respondent’s active involvement. Despite overwhelming evidence, the respondent denied guilt and showed no genuine remorse. The trial court imposed concurrent sentences of 20 years’ imprisonment for each murder, finding substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment. The DPP appealed against sentence.

The appeal was upheld. The sentences imposed by the trial court were set aside and replaced with life imprisonment on each of the two counts of murder, to run concurrently. The sentences were antedated to 1 February 2016 in terms of section 282 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977.

The case reinforces the strict application of the minimum sentencing regime for premeditated and contract killings and underscores that deviation from prescribed sentences requires truly weighty justification. It clarifies that courts may not speculate about motive or downplay lack of remorse and must properly balance aggravating factors against mitigation. The judgment affirms the centrality of proportionality and consistency in sentencing under South African criminal law.