Johannesburg - The High Court of South Africa: Western Cape Division has sentenced Babsy Ntamehlo to life imprisonment and declared him unfit to possess a firearm after he killed his estranged wife, Nosicelo Tsipa, over a dispute over an RDP house.
This conviction happens in the month of August, which is known as Women's Month.
In a wide-ranging sentence judgment, the court also ordered the RDP house be forfeited to the couple’s minor child, Lilitha Tsipa.
Judge Daniel Thulare ordered: "The patrimonial benefit of the marriage between the accused and the deceased in respect of the property referred to as 99 Street Fisantekraal, Durbanville, is forfeited to the accused in favour of the only child. Advocate Zuka Mapopa, a practising advocate of the Cape Bar, is appointed curator ad litem for the child, Lilitha Tsipa, at the state’s cost."
Judge Thulare further ordered the mayor of Cape Town, George Hill, to establish, without undue delay, a trust for Lilitha’s benefit and assist in upholding his rights of freehold ownership of the house in a trust.
He ordered the premier of the Eastern Cape to ensure that the family of the deceased visit her grave as part of their therapy.
He said the premier of the Province of the Eastern Cape shall, within 30 days of this order, trace the remains of the deceased, Nosicelo Tsipa, buried within the boundaries of the Province of the Eastern Cape, and shall immediately take all the necessary steps to ensure that the minor child, Lilitha Tsipa, as well as the Nonkuthalo’s family, visit such a grave as part of their emotional and psycho-social therapy as advised by a social worker, Katlego Phiri.
"The director general, National Department of Social Development, is ordered to provide all the necessary resources, human and otherwise, to support social worker Katlego Phiri and all other necessary professionals in assisting the minor child, Lilitha Tsipa, in his emotional, psycho-social, and other needs within their mandate as may be necessarily required," he said.
Judge Thulare gave the state, the curator ad litem, the mayor of Cape Town, the premier of the Province of the Eastern Cape, and the director general of the National Department of Social Development an opportunity to approach the court should a need arise to execute his order.
Ntamehlo was convicted on October 27, 2022, for the premeditated murder of an estranged wife, whom he threatened to strangle, kill, and burn in the early hours.
He told his friend Nyameko Sixhozi: "Mtshawe, I wish to strangle her to death in the early hours of the morning and burn her body next to the river close to us, my brother. I have had enough."
A few days later, Tsipa’s body was found strangled, partially burnt, and buried in a shallow grave in Fisantekraal, near Durbanville.
NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalla said during the trial, Senior State Advocate Megan September told the court that tensions increased between the couple after the accused made it clear that he no longer wanted the deceased as his wife and wanted to chase her out of the property.
The deceased had recordings, voice messages, and WhatsApp messages where the accused threatened to kill her. In one of the messages, he told her that most people go missing and do not get to be buried by their relatives.
"Fortunately, the deceased shared these messages with her brother and friends," said Ntabazalla.
The convict physically abused his wife to the extent that the deceased applied for two protection orders.
Advocate September told the court that the deceased applied for a protection order and that an interim protection order was granted on September 3, 2019, at Bellville Magistrates Court.
This order was never made final as the accused did not appear, and the matter was removed from the roll. The deceased again applied for a second protection order at Bellville Magistrate’s Court, and on August 21, 2020, an interim protection order was granted, with a return date for the hearing set for November 2020.
Ntabazalla said the convict also moved out of their marital home to stay with a girlfriend at an informal settlement but visited his marital home and continued with the abuse of the deceased at times in front of their son.
On October 6, 2020, the accused and the deceased were left alone in the house. She was never seen again. The accused told his son, her brother, his relatives, the police, and the community that she left, and he didn’t know where she was. He later changed the story and told his son and her brother that she had called asking for money but hung up before he could ask her whereabouts.
Ntabazalla said the victim’s charred body in a shallow grave was discovered after Lukho and some community members followed a trek of a wheelie, which was heard and seen being pushed by the accused around the early hours of October 7, 2020.
Her shallow grave was found next to the Mosselbank River in Fisantekraal. When news of the discovery of the shallow grave reached community members, they attempted to attack the accused. A police officer who was present had to shoot in the air and call for backup to keep the community members at bay.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, advocate Nicolette Bell, applauded the prosecution and investigation for their sterling work, which secured the successful conviction, the sentence, and the orders.
The Star