VUYO MKIZE
HE RAISED his wrist to glance at the time from his watch, and slowly raised his head to face the judge.
The face of convicted murderer Mervin “Chunkie” West, 36, looked pale and without expression as Johannesburg High Court Judge Gerhardus Hattingh began handing down his sentence on Friday morning.
West was found guilty on February 10 of the killing of 40-year-old police reservist Jerry Bheki Mfusi during a raid on May 4, 2010.
Mfusi was on duty and patrolling the streets of Eldorado Park when he and three other officers came across West and some of his friends.
When the police approached him to search him and his friends, West ran. Mfusi started chasing West and followed him into a garage. While in the garage, West fired several shots at Mfusi with a 9mm pistol. Mfusi died at the scene.
As he left the garage, Sergeant Zolile Roshe appeared and West pointed his gun at him too. A struggle ensued, and Roshe was able to overpower West and arrested him.
At the time of the killing, West was on parole after serving 12 years of a 30-year sentence for murdering six people and attempting to murder two more.
“The accused (West) personally addressed the court in mitigation of sentence. Although he apologised profusely and with great emotion to the family of the deceased (Mfusi), he failed to indicate what the apology was for and denied what he was convicted for,” Judge Hattingh said.
“I am of the view that the apology of the accused does not amount to remorse for his deeds at all… On the 26th of March 1997 he was convicted of multiple counts of murder and attempted murder and was sentenced to 30 years.
“He was released in 2009 on parole, and seven months after his release, he committed the offence. Society expects us to put a stop to such behaviour. Persons who commit such crimes should be severely dealt with,” the judge added.
He sentenced West to life imprisonment for the charge of murder, two years for the unlawful pointing of a firearm, 15 years for the unlawful possession of a firearm and two years for the possession of ammunition.
West looked at his watch again, his face showing no emotion.
Meanwhile, Mfusi’s aunt sat quietly in the courtroom, even after Judge Hattingh and West had left the room.
Speaking to The Star, Mildred Nkabinde rubbed her cheeks with her hands and said in a shaky voice: “As a family, Jerry’s death tore us apart. I can’t even describe the kind of pain we were in. The week that he died he had told me he would come visit me… We were very close.
Jerry was a good man. When you would ask him for something, he wouldn’t deny you if he could help you. Even his community asked ‘who would kill someone so good?’, because they also loved him.”
Mfusi is survived by two sons, aged 17 and 16.