The High Court of South Africa: Eastern Cape Division,
sitting in Port St Johns has sentenced former traffic officer Fanele Nxuseka (38),
to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend.
The court sentenced him to a further 12 years
for kidnapping.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, evidence presented in court revealed that Nxuseka, who is
married, had been in an abusive
extramarital love relationship with the deceased, who did not disclose to him
that she was on antiretroviral treatment (ARVs).
“Nxuseka discovered on his own
that his girlfriend was HIV-positive, and believed that she might have infected
him and his wife. On May 24, 2020, he
went to the girlfriend’s home in the Ngobozana area, in the district of
Lusikisiki, and demanded that she leave with him. The girlfriend left her cell phone with her
sister and told her that she might not be coming back alive,” said Tyali.
When the girlfriend did not return home, her family searched
for her and found her lifeless body with multiple gunshot wounds, in the
neighbouring Mmangweni village. Nxuseka
was arrested the following day.
“Ballistic tests conducted on the cartridges found on the scene
positively linked them to the firearm issued to Nxuseka by the state.”
Tyali further added that the the prosecution’s case was concluded with a testimony of a friend Nxuseka confided in following his discovery of his girlfriend’s HIV status.
“Accepting the sentence, Eastern Cape Director of Public
Prosecutions Barry Madolo, applauded the work of the prosecutor and
investigating officer in ensuring that gender-based violence is punished
without fear or favour, even if the perpetrator is a law enforcement official,” Tyali concluded.
