Pamela Ncumisa Selani (47) has been sentenced to three life terms by the Pretoria High Court for the murders of her two lovers as well as her son, Avile Jonjwana. Selani was also handed an additional five years in prison for obstructing justice. 

The court heard that in 2016, Selani from Olievenhoutbosch and her then Malawian partner Micheal Changisa argued after she discovered that he had infected her with a chronic disease. It is said that weeks after the argument, Selani asked her other boyfriend Gift, also a Malawian, who lived in the same area, to help her kill her partner Changisa. "One night, Gift went to the house Selani shared with Changisa and hid in the bathroom. After Changisa, fell asleep, Gift snuck out of the bathroom and repeatedly hit Changisa, with a hammer on his head in the presence of Selani's two minor children and left him in the bedroom where he died. After the incident, Selani and Gift buried the deceased in her yard. After the two killed Changisa they stayed together in the house Selani shared with the deceased," said the NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.

Mahanjana said in 2017 while staying together, Selani conspired with her son Avile (17), to kill Gift because he was abusing her. "The two then poisoned Gift and drowned his head in water until he died. Afterwards, they buried his body in a shallow grave on top of the first deceased in her yard. Avile who was also addicted to drugs started demanding money from his mother and threatened to report her to the police. One night, Avile chased his mother and his younger sibling out of the house, they then went to stay at her third boyfriend's house in the same area." She said the following night they all returned to the house and hid in the yard. "While doing so, Avile arrived home and went straight to bed, while sleeping Selani asked her minor son to sneak into the house and open the door. Thereafter, Selani grabbed a hammer and repeatedly hit Avile on the head until he died and buried him on top of two deceased persons in her yard. "

Mahanjana said on 04 August 2020, Selani took her 14-year-old son to a traditional healer because he was not well. During the consultation with the healer, the 14-year-old told the healer about the killings. "The healer then called a community leader under the pretence that he was calling another healer for assistance. When the community leader arrived, the son narrated the story to the community leader who reported the matter to the police. On the same day, Selani and her son were arrested when they returned home after consultation. The charges against the son were later withdrawn and he became a state witness," she said.