Durban - A 29-year-old man was sentenced to a term of life in prison for femicide for the brutal murder of his girlfriend in the Pongola area in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday that the Nongoma Regional Court sentenced Sphamandla Buthelezi to life in prison for the October 2021 murder of his girlfriend, Gabisile Sithole.
NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the prosecuting authority welcomes the successful finalisation of this matter.
“Curbing the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and intimate partner femicide remains one of the organisation’s top priorities. We also urge members of the community to speak out about these offences. We commend the work done by the prosecution and the police in securing the conviction.”
Detailing the 2021 murder, Ramkisson-Kara said the couple shared a room and witnesses in court testified that they would often argue with each other, resulting in Buthelezi assaulting Sithole. The witnesses said that the couple would then reconcile.
“On the evening of the incident, Buthelezi began assaulting Sithole, and she ran to one of the neighbours for assistance. When neighbours tried to intervene, he threatened to assault them as well; and dragged her back to their room.”
She said the neighbours eventually called the police who discovered Sithole’s bruised body.
“The post-mortem results showed abrasions all over her body, multiple sjambok injuries and the cause of death being blunt force trauma to her body.”
Ramkisson-Kara said that Buthelezi was immediately arrested.
She said Buthelezi maintained his innocence in court, saying that Sithole was robbed and assaulted by someone else and that he had only hit her with the heel of a shoe.
Regional Court Prosecutor Busisiwe Mfeka led the testimonies of the neighbours who had witnessed the assault, as well as the evidence of the police official who attended the scene.
Ramkisson-Kara said the court rejected Buthelezi’s version of the events.
In aggravation of sentence, Mfeka submitted a Victim Impact Statement, compiled by Sithole’s sister, and facilitated by court preparation officer Bhekithemba Hopewell Sithole.
“In her statement, the woman said that their family is still grieving their loss. She asked the court to impose the strictest sentence as Buthelezi had committed a gruesome offence. She also said that Buthelezi was a terrible person who beat Sithole daily.”
The NPA said that Buthelezi was sentenced accordingly, and the court deemed him unfit to possess a firearm.