Crime
HE POISONED HIS BROTHER’S DRINK TO STEAL HIS MOTHER’S FORTUNE!
BROTHER’S BLOOD FOR BUCKS!
PRETORIA – A Soshanguve man who thought he could kill his way into a fat inheritance has been sent to the cooler for the rest of his life.
The Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court didn’t hold back on Tuesday, handing down a life sentence to 40-year-old Dineo Cambrige Baloyi for the cold-blooded murder of his younger brother, Lethabo Baloyi (27).
The court heard a chilling tale of greed that sounds like a movie script. Lethabo was a soldier in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and lived in the barracks, while Dineo stayed at home with their mother.
The trouble started when their mother, who also works for the SANDF, was deployed overseas. While she was away, Dineo snooped through her bedroom and found her will.
He was gatvol to discover he wasn’t getting a cent—his younger brother was the main beneficiary.
THE DEADLY TRAP
Driven by jealousy, Dineo and his girlfriend cooked up a plan to get rid of the soldier. On 30 May 2018, they invited Lethabo over for a “social” drink.
But there was no brotherly love in the glass. They poisoned his drink and, once he was knocked out, they strangled him to death.
To cover their tracks, they stuffed his body into his car and staged a fake crash on the R80 Mabopane Highway.
THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE
The girlfriend vanished to Thembisa and is still on the run, while Dineo fled to Bushbuckridge. He was eventually bust for an unrelated kidnapping, but it was a hospital stay in September 2024 that finally broke him.
Believing his time was up, he confessed everything to his uncle, who called the cops.
NO MERCY
In court, Dineo tried to beg for mercy, saying he had kids to look after. But Regional Prosecutor Lufuno Manena wasn’t having it, arguing that the murder was fueled by nothing but pure greed.
Magistrate Nel agreed, saying:
“If he could kill his own brother, the danger to society is evident.”
Dineo was slapped with life for murder and an extra five years for conspiracy to commit murder.
The NPA has hailed the sentence, sending a clear message that family blood is not for sale.
