Yibanathi Ndema (46) of Zingqayi locality in Butterworth, who murdered his wife and buried her remains under a bathtub inside their bathroom, was convicted in the Mthatha High Court last week.
His case has been postponed to October 2, for pre-sentence procedures.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Luxolo Tyali said the court found him guilty on charges of murder, acts with the intent to defeat the course of justice, and three counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
“He reported her 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 on September 18, 2018, January 22 and June 27, 2019, for assaults on her.
“The assaults were by a stick, clenched fists, open hands, burning her with hot water and pulling her with her hair,” said Tyali.
He added that while still alive she once opened a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against him, and was granted a protection order in January 2019.
Tyali said that both the case and the protection order were later withdrawn.
“He was arrested in August 2021, after Nonkwelo’s remains were found buried underneath a bathtub, in the bathroom of the house the couple shared. Their children alerted their grandparents that since their mother’s disappearance, the bathtub had been repositioned.”
According to Tyali that prompted the police to search Ndema’s home, leading to the discovery of the remains.
He said 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.
He added that 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 strangled his wife to death because she was having an extra-marital affair, necessitating a trial-within- a-trial.
“The court ultimately admitted the confession, together with the disputed pointing-outs.”
Senior State Advocate Sibusio Nolutshungu led the evidence of, among others, the deceased’s father and the deceased, who told the court of a marriage characterised by physical abuse and subsequent apologies from Ndema.
Judge Buyiswa Majiki found that the state had 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.
