A child who was just one year old when her parents were brutally murdered has spoken of how much she misses them, as the man convicted of killing them is being sentenced.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) on Wednesday shared a deeply emotional voice note from the daughter of the late Sabeilewe Mogashoa and her husband, Lucky, saying the family had given permission for the recording to be made public.
According to SAPS, Sabeilewe and Lucky were murdered in front of their then eight-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.
In the voice note, the daughter speaks about missing both her parents, while her grandmother gently explains that police had worked tirelessly to find the bad man responsible for taking them away.
SAPS identified that man as Jacob Chego, a former police officer, who has since been brought before the courts and is being sentenced for the killings.
Nkuna and his co-accused, dismissed police officer Jacob Mothibe Chego, were convicted in June 2026 at the Pretoria High Court on twelve counts, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, robbery, fraud and two counts of murder.
Judge Samuel Makamu found that the state had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Evidence at trial showed that in March 2022, Lucky was told his stolen BMW had been recovered in Mpumalanga and was ready for collection.
Nkuna, impersonating a police officer, arranged to meet the couple at a garage in Benoni before directing them, at gunpoint, to a bushy area along the Etwatwa off-ramp on the N12 in Ekurhuleni, where he killed them in front of their children.
Chego had supplied Nkuna with the Mogashoas’ details, including their home address, and had released the vehicle from police custody using a fraudulent affidavit.
Sabeilewe was eight months pregnant at the time of the murders. The two children, then aged eight and one, were later found wandering along the road and rescued by a passer-by.
Nkuna, a parolee who had been out of prison for only two months after serving time for firearm possession, and who had previous arrests for robbery and rape in Mpumalanga, is already a convicted serial killer. He is currently serving two life sentences for the 2022 murders of his then-girlfriend, police officer Pretty Mazibuko, and her sister, Marcia.
He has been linked to at least six murders committed between March and August 2022, before his re-arrest.
The Mogashoa case itself was delayed after the original presiding judge, Portia Phahlane, was arrested on corruption charges in November 2025 in a separate matter, forcing the trial to restart from scratch with a new judge and requiring the Mogashoas’ surviving son to testify again.
A clinical psychology report presented to the Pretoria High Court ahead of sentencing found that Nkuna has been linked to at least 25 cases dating back to 2013, including armed robbery, rape, vehicle theft and murder, with investigators describing a sharp escalation in violent offending through 2022.
In the voice note, the daughter speaks about missing both her parents, while her grandmother gently explains that police had worked tirelessly to find the “bad man” responsible for taking them away.
The police described the recording as a painful reminder of the human cost behind violent crime and the lengthy investigations that follow.
“Behind every investigation is a family waiting for answers. Behind every arrest is a victim whose life was taken and loved ones whose lives were forever changed,” SAPS said.
The voice note, the police said, highlights why the pursuit of justice must continue even after an arrest has been made.
The family gave permission for SAPS to share the recording, with the police stressing that it was being released with “the utmost respect” for the children, their family and the memory of Sabeilewe and Lucky.
Nkuna is also accused of the 2022 kidnapping and murder of Hilary Gardee, daughter of former EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee. Gardee’s body was found in a plantation outside Mbombela, Mpumalanga.
Nkuna reportedly confessed to using a Facebook account to lure unsuspecting women before killing them, and to using a firearm stolen from traffic officers in Gardee’s murder.
Three co-accused were also charged in connection with her death.
The Gardee trial, being heard separately in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court in Mbombela, was originally set down for October 2025 but was delayed after Nkuna changed legal representatives.
It has since been rescheduled to run from April 2026 to the end of May 2027. Godrich Gardee has publicly voiced frustration at the repeated delays and has raised broader claims about his daughter’s death that have not been established in court.
Nkuna’s sentencing marks a significant moment for the family, who have lived with the consequences of the killings and the loss of their parents.
The case also underscores the devastating impact violent crime can have on children, who are left to grow up carrying the consequences of crimes committed against those closest to them.
SAPS said the investigation was ultimately about more than securing an arrest.
It was about giving a grieving family answers and pursuing justice for two lives violently taken away.
