The High Court of South Africa, Mpumalanga Division has sentenced Comfort Sifundo Nkosi (25) to three life terms and ten years’ imprisonment for gender-based violence-related offences committed in Nhlazatshe.
Nkosi was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend, Noxolo Portia Mazibuko, and three counts of rape. The two had been in a domestic relationship and shared a child. Between October 2017 and September 2023, Nkosi terrorised women in Nhlazatshe. One of his rape victims was his ex-girlfriend, while the other two were attacked as they returned home from local taverns.
On 14 October 2017, the accused attacked his ex-girlfriend at a local shop. He dragged her outside, assaulted her, and threatened her with a knife before forcing her to his residence, where he raped her. She later escaped and reported the matter at a nearby medical centre, where she was examined.
On 31 October 2021, another victim was returning home from a tavern when she accepted a lift in a vehicle in which the accused was a passenger. After she alighted near her home, Nkosi followed her, grabbed her, and raped her twice.
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On 3 September 2023, Nkosi attacked another woman returning from the Blue Moon Tavern. He assaulted her, dragged her into nearby bushes, and raped her. Later that same morning, he went to a local tavern where he met his friends and continued drinking.
When his girlfriend arrived, Nkosi confronted her about the whereabouts of their child. He then grabbed her outside, assaulted her with a stone until she became unresponsive, and transported her to his residence using a wheelbarrow. Emergency services were notified, but Mazibuko was declared dead at the scene. The police were alerted, and Nkosi was arrested shortly thereafter.
In court, Nkosi pleaded not guilty to all charges. The court found the witnesses’ credible and consistent, leading to his conviction on one count of murder and three counts of rape.
Victim impact statements were also presented where some victims revealed they had dropped out of school due to the trauma they suffered, while the deceased’s mother expressed ongoing grief and an inability to come to terms with her daughter’s death.
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He was sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder, life imprisonment for each of two counts of rape and ten years’ imprisonment for the remaining count of rape. Nkosi was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his application for leave to appeal was dismissed.
