A former DA councillor in the Okhohlamba local municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, who torched his house and killed his wife and three children after a domestic dispute, has been handed four life sentences in jail.
Michael Buthelezi, who is no longer a DA member after the party expelled him for the crimes after new information emerged, was also handed 15 years for defeating the ends of justice by the court, which was sitting in Ladysmith.
It was first thought that the matter was related to the ongoing political killings in KwaZulu-Natal; however, it emerged that Buthelezi started the fire after a domestic dispute and claimed that the blaze was started from outside.
The gruesome incident that shocked the country happened on October 29, 2023, at about 2am, when a fire broke out at the two-roomed house where Buthelezi and his late fiancée, Khombosile Khoza, lived with their three children aged between two and 10 years.
When the fire started, the family was trapped inside the house until the door was kicked down by a neighbour, who later became a state witness.
Fully recovered from burn injuries
The neighbour was one of the people to arrive at the scene in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
Khoza, as well as two of the children, who were aged two and eight years old, passed away instantly from the fire.
Buthelezi and the couple’s 10-year-old child were able to escape with the help of the neighbour.
However, the hospital placed the severely burnt child on palliative care, and she later passed away. Buthelezi was also placed under observation and treated for his burn injuries.
After the incident, Buthelezi, who had recovered, was questioned, and he misled the police by giving false information about the attack on two separate occasions.
Investigations revealed his statements to be false, leading to his arrest and subsequent conviction on Friday.
