A self-confessed wife murderer will serve life behind bars for the crime committed in July 2024 in the Jakkalspan area.

The man was sentenced in the Madadeni Regional Court in KwaZulu-Natal.

The murder was committed when the 41-year-old man accused his now-deceased 29-year-old wife of cheating on him. 

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said the couple lived together as husband and wife since the accused had paid a portion of lobola to her family. They had four children together.

“On the evening of 11 July 2024, the accused and his wife were alone at home when a quarrel broke out between them. This is because he suspected her of cheating on him. The quarrel escalated, and the accused strangled her to death. 

“Thereafter, he went to his brother’s homestead, where he reported to his brother that he had strangled his wife. He told his brother that he was going to hand himself over to the police. The accused then walked to the police station and reported to the officer on duty what he had done. The police took him back to his homestead, where he showed them his wife’s body. He was then arrested and charged with murder,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

In court, prosecutor Zama Zikalala led the testimony of the accused’s brother, as well as the testimony of the police official who was on duty when the accused confessed to his wife’s murder. 

“The postmortem results were also handed in to the court. In aggravation of sentence, Zikalala told the court that the accused had a previous conviction for assaulting the deceased on a prior occasion. The accused was sentenced accordingly, and the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

“We remain committed to the fight against the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said it is deeply saddening to witness continued violence perpetrated against women and children across all sectors of society.

“Between January and March 2025 alone, 966 women and 314 children were murdered. In the first quarter of this year, 5,727 people lost their lives to murder and over 24,000 sexual offences were reported and 10,688 reported cases of rape. These are not mere statistics. They represent shattered lives, broken families, and communities living in trauma. Year after year, the same systemic failures are raised, and year after year, they remain unresolved. South Africa does not lack insight into the root causes and consequences of GBVF; what is missing is decisive leadership and meaningful implementation,” said Monakali.

While commemorating Women’s Month, Monakali said they remain deeply concerned about the low conviction rate of offenders and the persistently high prevalence of violence against women and children in South Africa. 

“We must ask ourselves critical questions: Are we truly winning the fight against GBVF, or are we more concerned with creating the appearance of progress, ticking boxes, and meeting targets on paper while failing survivors in reality? The latter appears to be true.

“We cannot claim to be making any real progress until women are free from all forms of violence and discrimination. Thirty-one years into democracy, the continued prevalence of GBVF is a clear indication that the promise of freedom remains unfulfilled for far too many.

“Ilitha Labantu calls on government, civil society, and the private sector to urgently move from words to action and deliver the coordinated, adequately resourced response that this crisis demands. The rights, dignity, and safety of women and children must be upheld every day of the year,” said Monakali.

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

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