A man from Knysna in the Western Cape has been sentenced to direct imprisonment in the Knysna Regional Court for the murder of his ex-partner.
Petrus Maritz, 50, pleaded guilty to stabbing Nolene Jones to death.
In his guilty plea, Maritz told the court he and Jones had been in a relationship for 27 years and had two daughters.
The relationship was plagued with domestic violence and Jones took out a protection order against Maritz which was finalised in 2022. The order prevented him from assaulting Jones.
The couple split and while they each had different partners, they were still living together in Nekkies, Knysna.
On the day of the incident, June 19, 2022, Jones was at home with their daughters and one of their boyfriends. Maritz had visited a friend where he consumed alcohol and came home finding his former partner and daughter on the bed. The court heard he wanted to sleep and instructed Jones to sleep in the other room with the children.
Jones refused and he pushed her off the bed. She called her daughter and told her Maritz had hit her. The daughter came in and started fighting with her father who was washing himself. The fight stopped and Maritz took a large knife intending to stab his daughter.
Jones intervened and he stabbed her in the neck. He claimed everything happened so quickly, he was angry and had no justification to assault his daughter or her mother. Maritz said he felt remorseful and explained he could not describe what happened but wished he could turn back time.
State prosecutor Candice Simon produced a probation officer’s report which explained that although Maritz murdered for the first time, he was a risk to society. The report further stated Maritz contravened a protection order, knowing that he was not supposed to assault the deceased and that he admitted that he wanted to stab his daughter but stabbed her mother.
On his previous convictions, the report stated Maritz had a short temper and was prone to violent acts. The weapon used was not justifiable and was used against a vulnerable person due to her gender. His daughters and the report recommended direct imprisonment.
Simon argued the two daughters lost both their parents due to their father’s actions. They witnessed their mother’s death.
Western Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila said the court agreed to direct imprisonment but deviated from the prescribed minimum sentence because the accused pleaded guilty, and he had lost his relationship with his children forever.
“He has a four-year-old child with his new girlfriend. The report speaks of a 10-year-long history of domestic violence and that the accused has no relationship with his daughters as they want nothing to do with him,” Ntabazalila said.
The court sentenced Maritz to 12 years direct imprisonment.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Nicolette Bell expressed shock at the level of gender-based violence and femicide, despite concerted efforts to reduce this blight in our society.
“It can never be over-emphasised how important human life is and therefore we will be vigorous in our pursuit of these cases to serve as a deterrent to would-be murderers,” Bell said.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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