The High Court in Limpopo sentenced a 40-year-old widow to 27 years behind bars for orchestrating the murder of her husband.
The court found that Mapula Florah Manaka, 40, plotted with her boyfriend to murder her husband 43-year-old Archie Manaka in April 2020, said Lieutenant-Colonel Mamphaswa Seabi, the police spokesperson.
Archie Manaka was an IT specialist in Polokwane, said Seabi.
“On 8 April 2020, the deceased was attacked and stabbed several times at his home in Moletjie, Ga-Makweya, in the Seshego policing area outside the City of Polokwane during what was believed to be a house robbery,” Seabi said.
“When the police arrived at the scene, the deceased’s wife reported that three unknown suspects had forcefully entered the house, attacked her husband, taken an undisclosed amount of money and laptop, and fled the scene.”
Cases of murder and robbery were opened, and an investigation was underway to find the murder suspects.
The widow was later arrested along with her 27-year-old boyfriend Agrinate Makhubela and his 30-year-old accomplice. The third accused became a state witness and the case against Makhubela was yet to be finalised in court.
“The investigating officer Detective Sergeant Noko Mashitisho, who was attached to the provincial Investigating Unit, successfully opposed bail, and the accused was kept in custody until the finalisation of the trial,” said Seabi.
The widow was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for murder, with an additional seven years for conspiracy to commit murder.
“The sentences will run concurrently, meaning the accused will serve an effective 20 years imprisonment,” Seabi said.
Source: News24, IOL, image from IOL: SAPS
