Woman gets 20 years in prison for killing a woman accused of killing her father

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A 23 years old Nomfundo Truelove Ngcobo from Newlands West area has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Smangele Yvonne Simamane after accusing her of killing her father Bheki Ngcobo using witchcraft.

Ngcobo who later on entered into a plea agreement and becoming a state witness said that she was told by her stepmother that Simamane had killed her father. The stepmother and other relatives alleged that they were told by a sangoma about their allegations.

They allegedly told Ngcobo that Simamane had to be stopped before causing more damage.

This was echoed by NPA Spokesperson Natasha Kara who also said that Ngcobo was convinced to retaliate before other family members could be killed.

“They lured Simamane to their home in October 2020 where they assaulted her with a plastic pipe. Ngcobo was then given a vase by her stepmother, which she used to hit Simamane on her head. Ngcobo mentioned that she hit her several times but Simamane was still pleading with them to stop.”

“Ngcobo was then sent upstairs to take care of the children while the other relatives continued to attack Simamane. She sat on the stairs and watched as they strangled her and assaulted her with a spade.”

Kara added that the stepmother then went to their kitchen where got hot water and poured the it on Simamane’s ears. Simamane went quiet and the stepmother got another kettle of hot water to pour over Simamane’s body in a attempt to get rid of evidence.

“The body was then taken outside and Ngcobo was called downstairs to clean the floor.”

Ngcobo’s co-accused were also arrested and are due to make an appearance on May 4, 2022.

“Factors such as Ngcobo’s age, her confession as well as her clean record of no previous or pending cases were taken into consideration, during sentence proceedings thus warranting a deviation from the minimum sentence of life imprisonment. She will also testify against her fellow perpetrators” said Kara.