Convicted murderer, former Jozi FM DJ Donald Sebolai was on Friday sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend Dolly Tshabalala.
“The accused is more regretful than remorseful,” said Judge Cassim Moosa, in the High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Tshabalala was found in a pool of blood in Sebolai’s bed in June 2014. She had suffered a single stab wound to the pelvic area.
The former gospel show host was convicted of the crime in October 2015.
Throughout his trial, he maintained he did not kill Tshabalala and that she stabbed herself as the pair of them struggled over a knife she had used to stab him in the fingers.
Tshabalala had reportedly accused Sebolai of cheating when he asked her to stay away for a couple of days. He said he wanted to spend time with his oldest child, fathered with another woman.
He admitted that during their short relationship he slapped Tshabalala a few times, but only get her in line. He described her as a loving woman who was extremely jealous, especially of his fans.
The couple consumed alcohol together quite often and had been drinking shortly before the fatal stabbing. During his judgment, Judge Cassim Moosa said she was only slightly over the legal alcohol limit for driving.
Sebolai had told the court that the couple had on several occasions engaged in threesomes with Tshabalala’s childhood friend, Nonhlanhla Mkhize, a claim Mkhize refuted.
Sebolai called Mkhize and Tshabalala’s estranged husband to inform them that she had died. He left the scene in Tshabalala’s car.
Police searched for Sebolai for over a week. He maintained that he had not been evading arrest, but had been wandering the streets of Soweto in disbelief of what had happened. He told the court he was on his way to the police to hand himself over with a relative on the morning he was arrested.
Tshabalala’s car was found abandoned near a park in Soweto. The murder weapon and some of her bloodied clothes were found in the car. Police found Sebolai had cleaned his flat of Tshabalala’s blood.
Sebolai had begged the court for leniency, stating that he had to take care of his three minor children, the children of his deceased sister and his parents.
