Durban - Former Blue Bulls player Joseph Ntshongwana's
application for leave to appeal the judgment against him was dismissed in the High
Court in Durban on Tuesday.
Ntshongwana was sentenced on December 19, 2014 to five life
terms for hacking four people to death with an axe in 2011. He appealed all
five counts.
News24 reported earlier that Ntshongwana was convicted in
September 2014 on four counts of murder, two of attempted murder, one of
assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, one of kidnapping, and one
of rape.
He killed Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu in Montclair, Durban, on
March 20, 2011, Paulos Hlongwa in Lamontville two days later, Simon Ngidi in
Umbilo the following day, and an unidentified man sometime that week in Yellowwood
Park.
All were hacked to death with an axe. Two of the victims
were beheaded.
He was charged with attempted murder for attacking two men,
one in Umlazi on March 21, 2011, and the other in Lamontville on March 23.
Mental illness
Judge Irfaan Khalil said the defence team's argument that Ntshongwana
was diagnosed with a mental illness before his crimes was not a strong
argument.
"His mental illness was not of an extreme nature and
could be controlled to a large degree."
Describing the mental control, Khalil told how Ntshongwana
raped one of his victims for three consecutive days, ensuring he was not nabbed
by authorities.
"He took her to his home and checked before dragging
her into his home. While there he raped her without a condom, smothered himself
with yogurt - and forced her to perform oral sex on him."
Khalil further stated the barbarity of the crimes, including
the beheading and attempted beheading of victims, outweighed the arguments for
appeal.
The axe was later found stashed in a dog kennel at the back
of the property.
"The applicant carried an axe around and purposefully
stalked those he could overpower. The chopping wounds and beheadings show a
brutal killer."
Khalil concluded: "He was methodical, rational and
calculated in committing these crimes. I do not see another court finding a
different judgment given all the evidence in this case. His leave to appeal is
dismissed."
