The owner of a tavern in Orange Farm has been given three life sentences for the murders of three young children in a period of five months. The source told the reporter.today  the high court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court on the East Rand last week sentenced Pontsho Mohlanka for the 2020 killings of five-year-old Mzwandile Zitho, six-year-old Simphiwe Mgcina, and eight-year-old Mpho Makondo.

Mzwandile was killed in April and his naked body was found between a counter and a fridge inside Mohlanka’s tavern in Orange Farm. Simphiwe and Mpho were killed on the same day in September. Their naked bodies were found dumped in the street, close to Mohlanka’s tavern.

Suffocation was cited as the cause of all three deaths. Mohlanka had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Handing down sentence, acting Judge Lilian van Wyk said the three murders were pre-mediated and could have been avoided.

Report by: Cornelius D. Mofokeng.