An Eastern Cape man who managed to conceal the murder of his wife for two years has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Yibanathi McGyver Ndema, 45, was sentenced in the High Court in Mthatha on Wednesday.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Luxolo Tyali says Ndema killed his 36-year-old wife, Noluvuyo Nonkwelo on 1 July 2019, buried her body underneath the bath and then reported her missing.
He says two years later the couple's children alerted their grandparents that the bathtub in their house in the Zingqayi area in Butterworth, had been repositioned since their mother's disappearance.
Tyali says this led to a search and the discovery of remains that were later confirmed to be those of Nonkwelo by a DNA test.
Ndema had two assault convictions against him after he brutally assaulted and tortured his wife by burning her with hot water while assaulting her with his fists.
At one point she obtained a protection order against him but this was then withdrawn.
Tylai says it was revealed during the trial that Nonkwelo died as a result of a fractured neck.
Before her disappearance and murder, she was employed by the Eastern Cape Department of Health as an HIV & AIDS lay counsellor.
