Tavern killer gets 10 years as Steynsrus court closes 2024 murder case
Nkosana Patrick Mpembe stabbed Augustus Nyokong at a tavern in Matlwangtlwang in April 2024 and was sentenced in the Steynsrus Regional Court on Tuesday.
A man who stabbed another man to death at a tavern in Matlwangtlwang, near Steynsrus in the Free State, has been sentenced to ten years of direct imprisonment for murder.
The South African Police Service said the Steynsrus Regional Court found Nkosana Patrick Mpembe guilty and handed down the sentence on Tuesday, 13 October 2026.
The killing happened on Saturday, 27 April 2024. Police said a murder case was opened at Steynsrus SAPS at about 23:15 that night after Mpembe stabbed and murdered Augustus Nyokong at a local tavern in Matlwangtlwang.
The case was registered and investigated, and the suspect was arrested.
Constable Kelello Patsa is listed as the enquiry officer on the police statement, which carries the office of the Free State provincial commissioner.
The statement is a summary of the case and the sentence rather than the court record itself. The full judgment and the reasons behind the sentence are not contained in the police account.
The source document can be read at https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=71822.
- Qwaqwa man who broke into an 80-year-old woman's home and raped her gets 25 years 2026-10-14
- Tuck shop owner who gave girls sweets to keep quiet gets two life terms 2026-10-14
- Courier hijack foiled in Motherwell as five arrested and cellphone recovered 2026-10-14
- Kestell man gets life for murdering wife, court hears he beat her with a blunt object and slept beside her 2026-10-14
- Girl, 13, was given R20 after being raped, police say, as two suspects appear in Kgapane court 2026-10-14
- Dennilton man who faked a hospital job letter gets 25 years for raping a job seeker and a 13-year-old girl 2026-10-15
- Giyani police arrest 73-year-old man over wife's shooting death in Nkuri-Tomu 2026-10-15
- Stabbed three times at his workplace gate, Tubatse man sees attacker jailed for 15 years 2026-10-17
- Two businessmen gunned down at their Bloemfontein offices as police chief rushes to Bochabela scene 2026-10-21
- Temba residents hand over theft suspect, 100m of netting and a gun 2026-10-21
