A crazy gunman from Thohoyandou was sentenced to 33 years in prison in the Thohoyandou High Court on Monday for killing two secondary school learners. The two learners were shot and killed at their school gate in March last year.

The jam-packed Thohoyandou High Court heard that the accused, Mashudu Masiagwala Mandiwana (27), shot and killed Ndivhuwo Tshikororo (18) and Mbulungeni Makungo (19) at the Ralson Tshinanne Secondary School gate at Ngovhela village outside Thohoy-andou.

Masiagwala was accusing his former lover, Ndivhuwo Tshikororo (with whom he had a child) of cheating on him. He confronted her at the school gate and shortly afterwards opened fire on her and Mbulungeni. The young man died instantly, while Ndivhuwo died on her way to the Tshilidzini Hospital. Mandiwana later handed himself over to the police.

The incident sent shockwaves through the community and learners had to leave early as they had been traumatized. Some of them even fainted and had to be taken to the local clinic.

In sentencing him, Judge Godfrey Hetisani said that taking other people’s lives couldn’t be tolerated and people like Mandiwana had to undergo anger man-agement classes. He deserved a heavy sentence, so that it would send a clear message to other criminals that such behaviour cannot be tolerated.

He was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment on the two counts of murder.

The accused’s grandfather, Samuel Mandiwana, said he knows his grandson as a gentle man who hated to be involved in criminal activities. "I don’t know what happened to him," he said.

The school principal, Thanyani Mathivha, said he was satisfied with the verdict and it would send a clear message to the community that crime doesn’t pay. “Our security guards are now very strict at the gate and it is difficult for community members to come and see learners during school hours. We don´t allow any outsider to visit the learners during school hours,” he said.