Cape Town -Gevandre Jantjies stabbed his wife, Mercia Kleinbooi and left her for dead as she bled out on the floor while he went to visit relatives.
The Knysna Regional Court has sentenced him to an effective 14 years in prison. The State declined Jantjies’s guilty plea on culpable homicide and forced him to go to trial. The court found Jantjies, 30, guilty of murdering his wife, Mercia, on March 7, 2020.
According to the evidence before the court, she had reprimanded her husband for walking around at night with their 3-year-old daughter.
Jantjies told the court his wife had been drinking beer and was sitting on the couch behind him while he was busy cutting meat. He said he turned around to speak to her and accidentally stabbed her.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesprson, Eric Ntabazalila, said Jantjies tendered a plea of culpable homicide but State prosecutor Aspirito White declined it and proceeded with the trial.
“The State only presented the evidence of Dr Hattingh, who conducted the post-mortem. Her observation of the wound was that it was an actual action of plunging the knife downwards and not accidental as per the accused’s version.
“She said the angle at which the knife penetrated the victim’s skin, would not fit in with a person cutting meat and turning around and stabbing the victim.”
The court heard Jantjies would have had to change the position of the knife in his hand and had to have walked a few steps towards his wife to stab her.
During the trial, the court heard that after he stabbed Kleinbooi, he did not seek medical help but instead went to visit his aunt.
When he found that she was out, he returned home. He later visited a second aunt, leaving his wife to bleed out on the floor.
He found his mother at the house of the second aunt but did not tell her about the incident as he did not “want to spoil her enjoyment”.
Upon returning home, Jantjies walked past his wife who was bleeding on the floor. Instead of seeking help, he chose to drink alcohol and later passed out on his bed. He was woken up by the police the next day.
During the trial, White said femicide was prevalent and justified direct imprisonment and asked the court to impose the minimum sentence as there were no substantial or compelling reasons not to do so.
The court took into account that Jantjies had been in custody since his arrest on March 8, 2020.
The Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the sentence. She said Kleinbooi’s death was sad as she died at the hands of someone who claimed to love her and care for her. Instead, he stabbed her and did not seek medical help.
“We will vigorously prosecute gender-based-violence and femicide. We condemn any form of violence against women.”
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