Teacher’s Wife and Two Hired Hitmen Sentenced To Life Sentences After High Court Found Them Guilty of Premeditated Murder in Brutal Attack That Left Victim Stabbed More Than 30 Times

Botshabelo High Court sitting in Bloemfontein has sentenced four people for the premeditated murder of 35-year-old teacher Fezile Mnyobisi. Vusimuzi Daniel Nqele (43), Moeketsi Innocent Manko (35) and Halimmah Thamando Mnyobisi (38), the deceased’s wife, each received life imprisonment, while Abdool Rahman Thamando (35), the deceased’s brother-in-law, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.

The four were convicted of murder read with the provisions of Section 51(1), Part I, Schedule 2 of Act 105 of 1997 relating to premeditated murder. On 15 September 2023, Botshabelo police responded to a report from a local hospital after Mnyobisi, a teacher at Refihlile Primary School in C-Section, was brought there by his wife but was declared dead on arrival.

Investigators established that the victim had suffered more than 30 stab wounds to his torso. Police initially registered a murder and robbery case before a multidisciplinary investigation involving Provincial Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management and the Investigative Psychology Section led to arrest warrants. Nqele and Manko were arrested on 8 November 2024, followed by the arrest of Abdool Rahman Thamando during the investigation.

The final arrest came on 26 November 2024 when police tracked Halimmah Thamando Mnyobisi to a luxury residential complex in Sandton, Gauteng, where she had allegedly been hiding with her boyfriend after going on the run. She was arrested and later stood trial with her co-accused, resulting in the sentences handed down by the High Court.