The Clanwilliam Regional Court in the Western Cape has sentenced Esethu Cawe (26) to life imprisonment for the gruesome murder of his girlfriend Relebohile Ncephe in August 2022. The court heard that Cawe from Khayelitsha stabbed Ncephe 19 times using two knives which broke while he was stabbing her in front of her minor child. The incident took place less than a month after the deceased obtained an interim protection order against her murderer and four days after it was extended for assaulting, threatening and verbally abusing her.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokeseprson Eric Ntabazalila said the court sentenced Cawe Regional court prosecutor Mark Taylor told the court that the couple were cohabiting and when domestic violence started to occur, the deceased moved to her sister's house and obtained an interim protection order which was served to the accused. On the day of the incident, he repeatedly called her after which she agreed to meet with him in the presence of her sister and her four-year-old daughter also accompanied her. "They started talking and the sister left to give them space to talk privately. During the discussion, the accused asked the deceased about her whereabouts the previous weekend. He got angry when he did not get the answers he wanted, grabbed a knife and stabbed her until the knife broke. He grabbed a bigger knife and stabbed her until that knife also broke. He left that knife on her body and was only taken out during a postmortem. This repeated stabbing happened in front of her child who ran outside screaming."

Ntabazalila said the court sentenced Cawe to four years of direct imprisonment for breach of the protection order and life imprisonment for murder. The sentences will run concurrently. The State's rejected a plea and sentencing agreement with a proposed 18-year sentence offer from the accused and his legal team. "The State rejected the offer based on the severity of the case and its long-term traumatising impact on the deceased's minor child. The State believed Ncephe's death was a result of extreme violence and physical abuse by the accused,". he spoke. Ntabazalila said that the stabbing happened only four days after a protection order against Cawe was extended and was to be confirmed on 08 September 2022. Taylor argued that when court orders are violated, there must be consequences which will lead to communities having faith in the criminal justice system. The court concurred and sentenced the accused.