The youngest child of murder victims Lucky and Sabeliwe Mogashoa has expressed relief after the two men responsible for her parents’ deaths were sentenced to life imprisonment.
In an emotional voice recording shared by Sabeliwe’s family, the toddler said she did not want the accused to hurt anyone else.
“I don’t want them to kill God’s people anymore,” she said.
The child reportedly expressed a mixture of sadness and happiness after her grandmother told her that the two men would spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
She also said she knew her parents were watching over her.
Lucky and Sabeliwe were murdered in March 2022 in a case that left their two young children as witnesses to the horrific crime.
The family was travelling along the N12 on 16 March 2022 when they were allegedly lured off the highway at the Etwatwa off-ramp.
Former police Vehicle Crime Unit officer Jacob Mothibe Chego allegedly told the couple that their vehicle had been reported stolen in 2018 and had subsequently been recovered.
The couple were travelling with their two children, who were aged one and six at the time.
According to the case presented in court, the family was kidnapped before Lucky and Sabeliwe were taken to a nearby field and shot in the head. Sabeliwe was heavily pregnant at the time.
Their children witnessed the killings.
Chego and convicted serial killer Rassie Hlabirwa Nkuna allegedly left the children inside the vehicle before fleeing the scene.
The six-year-old child then took her one-year-old sibling and walked back to the N12, where she managed to flag down passing motorists for assistance.
Police said the eldest child later provided crucial information that helped investigators identify and arrest the suspects. She also testified during the trial.
In June 2026, the Gauteng High Court sitting in Pretoria found Nkuna and Chego guilty of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, fraud and robbery.
The convictions brought an end to a lengthy legal process for the Mogashoa family, who had waited more than four years for justice.
Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said Nkuna was already serving a sentence for the murders of his former girlfriend, Pretty Mazibuko, and her sister, Marcia, in Mpumalanga.
He has also been linked to the murder of Hillary Gardee, the daughter of former Economic Freedom Fighters secretary-general Godrich Gardee.
Gardee was kidnapped and murdered in Mbombela in May 2022. Her body was later discovered by passers-by along a deserted section of the Sabie Road.
Nkuna is expected to stand trial for Gardee’s murder next year.
For the Mogashoa children and their family, the latest sentence marks a significant moment in their long search for justice, while the children continue to live with the trauma of witnessing their parents’ deaths.