South African man and two accomplices sentenced to life imprisonment for brutal murder of his wife

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - A South African man, Sabelo Buthelezi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal m8rder of his wife who he married in secret.

The Nkandla Regional Court sentenced Buthelezi (46) along with his accomplices, Sphamandla Ntshingila (46), and Celani Buthelezi (36) for the murder of Makhosazane Ngcobo, a primary school teacher in February 2020.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in a statement on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, said Buthelezi (Sabelo) was married to the deceased, however, none of his or her family members knew about their marriage.

Before the incident, Sabelo decided to kill the deceased and enlisted the assistance of his co-accused.

On that day, he told the deceased that he would meet her in Nkandla town.

He fetched his co-accused from Nquthu and they then fetched the deceased. They drove around Nkandla with her until it got dark. Thereafter, they forced her to drink poison, chopped her with an axe on her head, and left her in some bushes. Her body was discovered by passers-by the following morning.

The men were arrested four months later - Sabelo was arrested at the Mpumalanga-Mozambique border as he was trying to crossover from South Africa, and his co-accused were arrested shortly after.

In court, Prosecutor Sicelo Hlehla led the testimonies of several witnesses including the evidence of the person who had given Sabelo the weed k!ller, the colleague of the deceased who knew about her meeting with Sabelo, and witnesses who had seen the deceased in Sabelo's car with the other two men. Cellphone evidence also formed an integral part of the state's case.

In aggravation of sentence, the state led the evidence of one of the deceased's family members who mentioned the negative impact her death has had on their lives.

The men were sentenced accordingly and they were declared unfit to possess a firearm.

The NPA welcomes the successful finalisation of this matter and is committed to pursuing justice for the victims of crime. Gender-based violence and femicide are an organisational priority, and we remain steadfast in our fight against it.