Life sentence for man who stabbed, bludgeoned wife with fire extinguisher

A 33-year-old man was sentenced in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court for the 2023 murder of his wife.

Samuel Mzangwa learned his fate on 10 June, with the judge handing him a life sentence without a chance for parole. He received a concurrent two-year sentence for contravening a court order.

Domestic violence leads to murder

Mzangwa’s wife, Mating Sinah Lebelonyana, was living on the Kromkuil farm near Bultfontein in the Free State, when her husband tracked her to the premises.

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An argument between the two occurred at the dwellings on the farm on 23 August 2023, with the man brutally assaulting the 29-year-old woman, leaving multiple stab wounds on her body and face.

Seeking assistance, Lebelonyana attempted to flee to the farmhouse but was caught by her husband who inflicted further stab wounds and struck her with a fire extinguisher on the head.

The commotion alerted the farm owner who instructed two employees to take Lebelonyana to hospital. They encountered police a short distance from the farm but the victim had already succumbed to her injuries.

Police returned to the farm where Mzangwa was arrested and subsequently charged with murder and the contravention of a court order.

Sheep farmer murdered while tied to tree

Elsewhere in the Free State, three foreigners appeared in court following their arrest for an attack on a sheep farmer.

While with his nephew searching for sheep he believed to have been stolen, the victim encountered three shepherds and an altercation ensued.

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The three men tied the nephew and his uncle to a tree, but the boy was able to free himself and fled the scene.

Police were notified by a farm manager that he had found a body in a bush, with authorities confirming the body to be that of the sheep farmer.

The victim, his nephew and the three accused were all Lesotho nationals operating on farms straddling the border.