Palesa Madiba: Detailed facts about her murder and trial
Judge Prince Manyathi of Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg granted the late Palesa Madiba justice on Friday, 26th February 2021. On 4th December 2016, the court found Dumisa Mkwanazi guilty of multiple crimes besides taking away a student's life. While charging him yesterday, the judge noted how gender-based violence and femicide are spreading in South Africa like a virus.
Source: Twitter
Police arrested Dumisa in December 2015. His family will visit him in prison, whereas Palesa Madiba pictures and memories are her family's only consolations forever. The prosecution requested a life sentence for Mkhwanazi because of his arrogance, but the judge chose to pass a constitutionally fair judgement.
He accused the justice system of singling him out and sacrificing him to please Madiba's family and media houses. The highly-anticipated justice for Palesa Madiba comes after more than seven years since she died.
Facts about Palesa Madiba story
There are many facts in the Palesa Madiba case that prove Dumisa is guilty of the charges. Mzansi media houses kept the public updated about this brutal murder by covering the story many times. What happened to Palesa Madiba? Below are heartbreaking facts about her demise:
1. She went missing after spending a weekend at her childhood friend's house
Source: Twitter
What happened after the Tshidi Mkhwanazi Palesa Madiba sleepover was devastating. The 20-year-old lady went missing after a sleepover at Matshidiso Mkhwanazi's home in Phiri, Soweto.
Tshidi's uncle, Dumiso, knew Palesa well because the girls were friends since primary school. Furthermore, Palesa frequently visited Tshidi's home.
2. Tshidi's critical court testimony linked her uncle to the murder
According to Palesa Madiba witness and friend, Tshidi, she left home on 12th December 2013 for work. Madiba was in bed, wearing pajamas and chatting on her phone. Tshidi asked her to leave the house keys in the garden.
Moreover, she also promised to call her friend around 9 am upon arriving at her workplace, and Madiba would leave for classes at the Soweto UJ Campus later. Tshidi returned home at 7 pm worried about her friend's well-being.
She informed her grandmother that she could not reach Palesa's phone the entire day and that her calls went to voicemail. Dumisa arrived an hour later and claimed he saw the young lady leave in the morning. Furthermore, he described Palesa's outfit.
3. Insights on how Dumisa committed the murder
Who killed Palesa Madiba? It is alleged that Dumisani Mkhwanazi tried to steal her phone before strangling her to death. Palesa stayed in the main house while Dumisa stayed in the backroom, but he often accessed the main house for meals and showers. Tshidi informed Palesa's family, and they all filed a missing person report to the police.
4. Where was Palesa Madiba body found?
Source: Twitter
In December 2016, police exhumed Palesa Madiba remains from a shallow grave in Tshidi's home's backyard. Zelakwe, Tshidi's neighbour, noticed a heap of soil and tiles piled unevenly onto another heap of soil while repairing the doors in the house.
He suspected it was a grave and alerted the authorities. The police used sniffer dogs to find the body remains, and a postmortem revealed that her skull was crushed.
4. Dumisani Mkhwanazi sentence
According to Palesa Madiba latest news, the judge pronounced a total of 31 years behind bars for Dumisani Mkhwanazi for committing murder, possessing an unlicensed firearm, obstructing justice, stealing a cellphone, and possessing ammunition.
At the same time, the judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently. The judge was upset by how the 38-year-old buried Palesa like a dog on 12th August 2013. The young lady trusted him like an uncle, but he betrayed her.
According to him, Palesa Madiba killer lied to the court, showed no remorse, and pretended to share the pain and sufferings of Palesa's family, knowing well that he killed and buried her.
5. Her family hired a private investigator
Palesa Madiba mother, Khosi Glesitwe, expressed her pain because the sentence would not bring her daughter back to life. Before the court's final verdict, she prayed and went for counselling, hoping her daughter would return home.
The family hired a private investigator when the police could not find a breakthrough with the case. However, she was grateful that her family found closure and that they were moving on. May Palesa Madiba's soul rest in eternal peace. Although South Africans hope that the court's sentence will warn everyone who wants to take away someone's life, they are also pleading for harsher punishments to such law offenders.
READ MORE: Court Orders Husband to Pay Wife r100 000 for 5 Years of Housework
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The news led to a heated debate among South Africans regarding whether it was right or wrong for a wife to demand compensation for child-bearing and doing house chores.
Source: Briefly News
