25 years behind bars for husband’s murder
The charge relates to an incident in December 2022, in Enable village outside Hoedspruit and Kedibone was previously charged alongside three young men who she had contracted to kill her husband.
A 47-year-old woman, Kedibone Lonia Nyathi was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the Limpopo High Court, Polokwane Division, after she pleaded guilty to the murder of her husband, Sandy Nyathi. The co-accused; Remember Surprise Malepe (19), Ethen Raganya (18) and Poopo Ventry Mabela (18) entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the state.
Malepe was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and Raganya and Mabela to an effective eight years each. According to the National Prosecuting Authority region spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi Dzhanga, Kedibone who had earlier indicated that she intended to plead not guilty, changed her plea and negotiated a plea and sentence agreement with the state.
Also read: Tzaneen couple hijacked in mall parking area
Her plea and sentence agreement revealed that she contracted the three men to kill her husband for R15 000, she asked them to stage a hijacking by barricading the road they would be travelling on, while Kedibone pretended to accompany her husband to work. “Before reaching his workplace, Kedibone stopped the vehicle and asked her husband to remove objects that obstructed the road.”
“He alighted from the vehicle, and that’s when he was stabbed to death, and one of the accused pretended to attack her. In mitigation, the defence submitted that there are substantial and compelling circumstances present in this matter, because the accused was a first offender, she had shown true remorse by pleading guilty, she has a minor child, and she is suffering from two chronic illnesses,” Dzhanga said.
Also read: Hulp vir baba Anné gevra
She added that in aggravation of the sentence, the senior state advocate, Nkhetheni Munyai submitted that this offence was committed out of greed since the investigations revealed that Kedibone had several insurance policy payments that she was entitled to in the event of her husband’s death.
“Advocate Munyai further said that the suitable sentence, in this case, should be 25 years imprisonment. The acting judge, Ngobeni found that the plea and sentence agreement was in the interests of justice and accordingly sentenced the accused to 25 years, direct imprisonment. The accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.”
Also read: Police launch manhunt for gang-rapists
“The NPA welcomed the sentence and the Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Ivy Thenga commended both the state advocate and the investigation officer, Det Sgt Sello Rony Maepa of Maake Police Station for building an insurmountable case against the accused, which left her with no option but to plead guilty,” she concluded.
