A 31-year-old woman who killed her grandmother was on Monday sentenced to life in jail by the Johannesburg High Court.
Nomaswazi Rachel Tshabalala was handed an additional 25 years for 24 counts of fraud, theft of the deceased bank and SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) cards, obstructing and defeating the administration of justice, as well as statutory perjury.
Tshabalala, who pleaded guilty, was living with her grandmother, Nomsa Hilda Tshabalala, in Mndeni, Soweto at the time of the murder.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, she admitted that she was under the influence of drugs when she killed the elderly woman. It is believed that there was an altercation after the grandmother kicked her out of the house on December 14 2019.
In her plea explanation, she stated that she reported Nomsa missing at the Naledi police station on December 19 2019.
She then proceeded to withdraw funds from Nomsa’s Nedbank and Sassa cards starting on December 17 2019 to September 3 2020, when she was arrested and charged with fraud and theft.
A tenant only discovered the grandmother’s body in June 2021, after other family members had decided to rent out the house following Nomaswazi’s arrest and detention.
The tenant was cleaning the yard when he discovered Nomsa’s remains buried underneath a steel cabinet in the backyard. DNA profiling was conducted and matched that of Nomsa.
Senior state advocate, Tshimangadzo Xakaza, argued in court that the murder was premeditated.
“The accused had an opportunity to reconsider her decision after hitting her with the calabash on her head, leaving her unconscious but alive, but [instead she] proceeded to strangle her with her bare hands,” said Xakaza.
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