The High Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division sitting in Mthatha sentenced Yibanathi MacGyver Ndema (45) on five charges relating to the murder of his wife, whose remains were found buried under a bathtub in their marital home at Zingqayi area in the district of Butterworth.
The court found him guilty on charges of murder, acting with intent to defeat the course of justice and three counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm yesterday. NPA Eastern spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said that Ndema murdered his wife, Noluvuyo Nonkwelo (36) on 01 July 2019. "On 03 July 2019, he reported his wife as a missing person to the police even though he knew that was not true. The marriage had been marred by domestic abuse, with the court convicting Ndema of 18 September 2018, 22 January and 27 June 2019 for assaulting his wife. The assaults were by a stick, clenched fists, open hands, burning her with hot water and pulling her with her hair. While she was still alive, the deceased once opened a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against him and was granted a protection order in January 2019. But both the case and the protection order were later withdrawn," Tyali said.
Tyali further said that Ndema was arrested in August 2021 after Nonkwelo's remains were found buried underneath a bathtub in the bathroom of the house the couple shared.
"The couple's children alerted their grandparents that since their mother's disappearance, the bathtub had been repositioned. That prompted the police to search Ndema's home leading to the discovery of the remains. DNA results confirmed that the remains were indeed those of Nonkwelo and were released to her family for proper burial. Postmortem results revealed that the deceased died because of a fractured neck.
"Ndema initially abandoned bail but at a later stage, he made a U-turn and applied for bail which was successfully opposed by the prosecution. During the trial, he pleaded not guilty. He also distanced himself from a confession he made to the police admitting that he had strangled his wife to death because she was having an extramarital affair necessitating a trial within a trial. The court ultimately admitted the confession, together with the disputed point-outs," said Tyali. Senior State Advocate Sibusiso Nolutshungu led the evidence of the deceased's father and told the court of a marriage characterised by physical abuse and subsequent apologies from Ndema. Judge Buyiswa Majiki found that the state proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and noted that the prosecution had invoked the provisions of premeditated murder, which attracts the minimum sentence of life imprisonment. The case has been postponed to 02 October 2023 for sentencing.
