Murder convict, Ntuthuko Sosibo, 29, was sentenced to life imprisonmentby the Scottburgh Magistrates' Court for the murder of his 20-year-old Grade 12 learner girlfriend Mandisa Cele, of Siqungeni, in Mthwalume on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast in July 2024.
Image: ZIMBILI VILAKAZI
The father of a young woman murdered by her boyfriend says he slept peacefully for the first time in years after the killer was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Scottburgh Magistrates' Court on Friday sentenced Ntuthuko Sosibo, 29, to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend, Mandisa Cele, a 20-year-old Grade 12 learner.
Cele was killed in July 2024 in Siqungeni, Mthwalume, on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast. The couple shared a child.
The court heard that Sosibo severely assaulted Cele and she succumbed to her injuries. The court also ruled that he was unfit to possess a firearm.
Cele’s father, Mzwandile Dlungele, said he had not enjoyed a full night’s sleep since his daughter was murdered.
"I would sleep around 8 p.m. but would be awake at midnight until almost the break of dawn. It would be worse on days of the trial," said Dlungele.
He said the family was satisfied with the sentence handed down by the court.
"This boy's action really pained us, but the sentence satisfies us. We wanted him to receive a heavy sentence," said Dlungele.
He added that although the judgment would not bring his daughter back, the family felt some relief knowing that justice had been served.
The deceased, Mandisa Cele, from Siqungeni, in Mthwalume, on the South Coast, who was a Grade 12 learner when her boyfriend fatally assaulted her. Her father described a tumultuous relationship that was punctuate by violence and extreme control.
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"I slept peacefully, something I was no longer used to. I was always anxious when I had to go to court. I would now be able to rest knowing that justice was served."
Dlungele said tensions were high in court during the proceedings. He alleged that some of Sosibo’s relatives laughed at a member of their family before the sentence was delivered.
However, he said the mood changed after the judgment.
He claimed that those who had been laughing earlier left the court in tears after the life sentence was handed down.
Dlungele also described the relationship between his daughter and Sosibo as troubled, alleging that she had endured repeated abuse.
He said the accused had assaulted her on several occasions and even forced her to drop out of school twice, delaying her education.
"When she lived at her mother's RDP house, he would arrive and abuse her. One day he broke all the windows. When I went there to demand why he had done that he had already ran away."
Cele left behind a three-year-old daughter who turns five this year. Cele's body was discovered with assault marks with her face black and blue, in a blood-stained room she shared with Sosibo who had made a run to Durban before he handed himself to the police.
A local women’s rights activist, Nombuso Sibisi of Women of uMthwalume, welcomed the sentence but criticised the behaviour of the accused and some members of his family during the trial.
"We are happy with the sentence but we are disappointed that there are parents who support their children when they have done something like this. We were also disappointed by the killer's rude behaviour in court while facing such a serious charge, as he disrespected the court, the journalists and the police."
Sosibo was expected to be sentenced on Thursday, but the proceedings were delayed after he refused to return to the dock following the lunch break.
He demanded that journalists who had taken his photographs be removed from the courtroom.
Sosibo showed the middle finger to journalists as he descended the steps before refusing to return to court.