The Johannesburg High Court sentenced road rage murderer Owen Kröeger to 12 years on Friday, leaving the family of the victim dissatisfied at the jail term.
The wife of Morare Matekane sobbed hysterically after Kröeger was sentenced, and had his bail extended to next year pending the lodging of a petition for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein.
Kröeger is petitioning the SCA directly, as Judge Percy Blieden, the trial judge, turned down Kröeger’s application on Friday to appeal against conviction and sentence.
Kröeger shot Morare Matekane dead in a road rage incident on August 2, 2001. Matekane (38) was married to Julia and the couple has three children.
He had his hands in the air when the incident took place at the intersection of Marshall and End Streets, central Johannesburg. The incident happened during morning peak traffic.
”It is clear that for some time, he (Kroeger) was not acting rationally,” Blieden said when passing judgment on Friday.
The court found that Kröeger started going into a rage after a slight collision with Matekane, a motor cyclist. The side mirror of the car Kröeger was driving was damaged.
Kröeger was provoked when Matekane could not supply him with his personal details. Kröeger was further aggravated when the metro police claimed to have arrived 15 minutes at the scene where motorists were hooting at him.
His car was blocking the traffic and he waved his firearm at them. He then fired a warning shot before killing Matekane.
”This type of conduct cannot be condoned in any type of civil society,” said Blieden. – Sapa