After strangling his wife to death, Yibanathi Ndema buried her body under a bathtub in their marital home.
The 45-year-old Ndema from Zingqayi in Butterworth, Eastern Cape was found guilty of murder by the Mthatha High Court on Monday.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in July 2019 Ndema murdered his wife, Noluvuyo Nonkwelo.
The convicted murderer later reported to the police that his wife was missing, even though he knew what he had done to her.
In court, Ndema pleaded not guilty and distanced himself from a confession he made to police admitting that he had strangled his wife to death.
This, he said, he did because she was having an extramarital affair.
However, the court found him guilty on five charges relating to the murder of his wife, whose remains were found buried inside the house.
This after the court revealed that Ndema and the deceased were in an abusive marriage, as he countlessly assaulted her with a stick, clenched fists, open hands, burned her with hot water, and pulled her with her hair.
While still alive, the deceased had opened a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against Ndema, and was granted a protection order.
However, both the case and the protection order were later withdrawn.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the court found Ndema guilty on a charge of murder, intent to defeat the course of justice, and three counts of assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm.
“Ndema was arrested in August 2021 after his wife’s remains were found buried underneath a bathtub,” said Tyali.
“The couple’s children alerted their grandparents that since their mother’s disappearance, the bathtub had been repositioned.”
That prompted the police to search Ndema’s home, leading to the discovery of Nonkwelo’s decomposing remains.
DNA results confirmed that the remains were those of Nonkwelo and the body was released to her family for proper burial.
Postmortem results revealed that the deceased died because of a fractured neck.
Ndema initially abandoned bail, but made a U-turn and applied for bail, which was successfully opposed by the prosecution.
Senior state advocate Sibusiso Nolutshungu led evidence of, among others, the deceased’s father, and the deceased’s previous reports of a marriage characterized by physical abuse.
Judge Buyiswa Majiki found that the state proved its case and noted that the prosecution had invoked the provisions of premeditated murder, which attract a minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
The case has been postponed to October 2 for presentence procedures.
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