A Mpumalanga man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the mother of his four children.
Lucky Alfred Mhlanga, 34, appeared in the Mpumalanga High Court, which was setting in Breyten, on Thursday, where he was sentenced for the February 2020 murder of Zinhle Happiness Nkabinde, 28, after he pleaded guilty on Wednesday exactly a year after Nkabinde was reported missing.
Her body was discovered in bush on a farm near Mahamba five days after the domestic worker had been reported missing when she did not show up for work.
"The court heard how Nkabinde was physically abused by Mhlanga repeatedly to a point where she sought solace from authorities by applying for a protection order against the violent father of her children.
"Despite the efforts she took to protect herself, he [Mhlanga] continued to make her life miserable to the extreme that on 26 December 2019, he physically assaulted her on a farm in Piet Retief and she then reported the matter to the police who arrested him for violation of the protection order," said police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi
After the December 2019 incident, Mhlanga was released on bail and was arrested again after the discovery of Nkabinde's body.