Mfaniseni Thomas Mathe has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend, Poppy Happy Thela, after pleading guilty at the Mpumalanga high court.
Mathe, 48, murdered his girlfriend whom he stayed with at his house in Extension 4, Kwazanele township in Breyten by assaulting her with a black rubber pipe and stabbing her multiple times with a knife on February 25 2024.
This happened after the victim returned home after being away for several days to resolve her identity document issues at the local department of home affairs.
“Upon her return, she was reportedly intoxicated and found the accused asleep. An argument broke out between the two, which escalated into a violent altercation,”, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
After Thela lost consciousness, Mathe left her lying on the floor and went to sleep.
“The following morning, upon discovering that she was no longer breathing, he wrapped her body in a blanket and plastic bag, tied it with a rope and disposed of it in a nearby manhole.”
The postmortem confirmed the cause of death as multiple penetrating stab wounds to the neck.
“The NPA welcomes the sentence and reiterates its commitment to combating gender-based violence and femicide,” said Nyuswa.
TimesLIVE
Khodani Mpilo
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