A Soshanguve man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his younger brother in a crime the court found was driven by greed.
The Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court also sentenced 40-year-old Dineo Cambrige Baloyi to an additional five years for conspiracy to commit murder. The court found that Baloyi planned and executed the killing with his girlfriend in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.
The pair devised the plan after discovering that Baloyi’s younger brother, Lethabo Baloyi (27), stood to inherit their mother’s estate. The mother, an employee of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), was frequently deployed abroad.
“At the time of the incident, the deceased was employed by the SANDF and lived at SANDF barracks, while the accused resided with their mother in Soshanguve,” said National Prosecuting Authority Gauteng spokesperson Lumka Mahanjane.
During one of his mother’s deployments, Baloyi accessed her bedroom and discovered her last will and testament. Upon realising that he was not a beneficiary, he shared the information with his girlfriend and the pair plotted to kill his brother.
The deceased was initially found dead in what appeared to be a car accident, but the State proved he had already been killed.
“The accused and his girlfriend invited the deceased to their mother’s home under the pretext of socialising. They secretly administered poison to his drink and, once he lost consciousness, strangled him to death,” Mahanjane said.
“They then placed his body in his vehicle and deliberately crashed it along the R80 Mabopane Highway to stage a motor vehicle accident.”
Following the murder, the couple fled separately. Baloyi was later arrested in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, on an unrelated kidnapping charge, while his girlfriend remains at large.
While hospitalised in September 2024, Baloyi contacted a relative and confessed to the murder, requesting that police be informed. He later made a formal confession before a magistrate and was arrested for the murder on 9 September 2024.
Baloyi pleaded guilty and asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, citing his children as dependants. However, Regional Prosecutor Lufuno Manena opposed the request, arguing that the murder was motivated by jealousy and greed.
In sentencing, Magistrate Nel agreed with the State, saying Baloyi showed a complete disregard for human life and posed a danger to society.