On Monday, March 13, 2023, the Mpumalanga High Court sentenced a 47-year-old lady to life imprisonment for paying hitmen R20,000 to kill her husband so she could cash in on insurance plans.
Phumaphi Gloria Gwebu, 52, and her spouse Sipho Shadrack Dimba, 52, shared a home with their children at Msogwaba Trust.
The accused entered a guilty plea in front of the court.
Gwebu revealed in her plea explanation that she purchased five insurance policies for Dimba, one of which was set to pay R530,000 upon his death.
“She waited until the policies matured and arranged with the hitmen a few weeks before they killed the deceased,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
The hitmen entered the house throughout the night on December 12, 2019, as planned, and murdered Dimba.
They went straight to his bed, strangled him while Gwebu was present, and dropped his body into a nearby river before departing.
A passerby found the body in the river two days later and contacted the family. The cops were called.
“The accused was arrested a year later after one of the killers confessed to the police and implicated her as the mastermind behind the murder,” Nyuswa said.
Eugene Mathebula, a prosecutor’s advocate, told the court that the murder was intentional, cruel, and motivated by greed.
The court saw no grounds to vary from the mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.
In a statement, the National Prosecution Authority welcomed the conviction and praised the prosecution and the investigation team for their efforts.
“We hope this sentence will deter potential offenders.” the statement added.