Yibanathi MacGyver Ndema, a 45-year-old resident of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape, has been sentenced to life in prison for the heinous murder of his wife, Noluvuyo Nonkwelo. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday by the Mthatha High Court.
In a disturbing revelation by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), it was disclosed
that Ndema, in July 2019, strangled his 36-year-old wife to death and callously buried her beneath a bathtub in their marital home located in the Zingqayi area of Butterworth.
The convicted murderer went on to report his wife as missing to the police, despite being fully aware of his gruesome crime.
In addition to the life sentence for murder, Ndema was handed a five-year term for acts intended to obstruct justice. Further, he received two years on each of the three counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, with a suspension of five years.
During the court proceedings, Judge Buyiswa Majiki emphasized the need for continued trauma counseling for the couple’s children, who were left traumatized by the shocking actions of their father, once a figure of trust and love. Majiki revealed that Ndema persisted in contacting his children telephonically even while in custody.
In agreement with the prosecution’s stance, Judge Majiki highlighted the urgent necessity for expressly punitive sentences in response to the prevalence of such heinous crimes across the entire country. The life sentence serves as a stark reminder of the gravity of the offense committed by Ndema and the need for stringent legal consequences in cases of this nature.
