A jealous husband who brutally stabbed his wife to death has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Ncedo Mpaka, 39, of Qanda village in Tsolo, stabbed his estranged wife, Yonela Ngati, 29, multiple times on May 12 2025.
He also stabbed himself in the chest and abdomen with the same knife before telling the police that he and his wife had been attacked while in their vehicle.
Police rushed him to Malizo Mpehle Hospital, where he was admitted with serious stab wounds.
At the crime scene, police found that nothing had been taken by the alleged attackers.
Ngati’s belongings, including her wallet and cellphone, were found beside her body in the car.
Mpaka later handed himself over to the police, admitting he had misled them, and confessed to having killed his wife and stabbed himself.
He escaped a life sentence after co-perating with the police.
On Wednesday, Mpaka, represented by his lawyer, advocate Steve Kekana, and the NPA, represented by advocate Avumile Bikitsha, entered into a plea and sentence agreement under Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act and agreed on a 22-year sentence.
Mthatha high court acting judge Aron Sipho Zono, who condemned the prevalence of domestic and gender-based violence in the country, accepted the plea and sentence agreement and sentenced Mpaka accordingly.
In the agreement, Mpaka described how he killed his wife and why.
“On May 12 2025, I received a phone call from my wife.
“She wanted to be fetched from home [and taken] to her workplace.
“I decided to help her even though we were no longer on good terms.
“On our way to her work, she asked me how I would feel about seeing her with another man in the car I had given her to keep.
“That really shocked me and it did not feel good to hear that.
“I dropped her at her workplace.”
After Ngati finished work, Mpaka went to fetch her.
He claimed he wanted to kill himself by taking a pesticide tablet, but later decided to stab himself.
“I took a knife and stabbed myself in my stomach three times, and she tried to stop me.
“I decided to stab her several times in the body.
“She died, and I threw the knife away.”
He then went to the Tsolo police station.
“I misled the police that we were attacked by amaphara.
“I was taken to the hospital. As time went by, I went to the police station and informed them that I was the one who stabbed my wife and that I stabbed myself.
“What I did was cruel and inhumane. I apologise to [my wife’s] family unreservedly.
“I want to change and become a better person.”
Bikitsha said Ngati was Mpaka’s wife, whom he had confessed to love and should have protected from harm, instead of killing her.
“He acted out of jealousy and cowardliness.
“The offence is prevalent in the country,” Bikitsha said.
Eastern Cape director of public prosecutions Barry Madolo said: “This sentence sends a strong message [regarding] acts of gender-based violence.
“The NPA remains committed to ensuring justice for victims of domestic violence and holding perpetrators accountable.”
In two other GBV cases, the Sterkspruit regional court sentenced several convicted offenders this week:
A 39-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of his mentally challenged daughter on August 18 2024 at Jeleni Village in Herschel, Sterkspruit.
The court also sentenced Simosakhe Polisa, 33, to an effective 40 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of his estranged wife, Nandipha Thotho, 37, and the murder of her partner, Zwelakhe Rshmeni.
The offences were committed on March 24 2020 in Mokhesi, near Sterkspruit.
Polisa, a Lesotho national, was in SA illegally.
He was sentenced to 25 years for the murder and 15 years for the attempted murder, to run concurrently, and fined R6,000 (or six month’s imprisonment) for being in SA illegally.
Daily Dispatch
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