South African man sentenced to life imprisonment for m8rder of his girlfriend
Published on December 18, 2025 at 12:30 PM by Edgar Naitha
The High Court of South Africa, Mpumalanga Division, has sentenced 38-year-old Mikah Shalamuka Willy Sithole to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend, Nicolene Morgan.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Sithole and Morgan were in a domestic relationship and lived together at his residence.
On December 21, 2024, Morgan and her sister attended a social gathering at Cork Trust in Bushbuckridge, where Sithole later arrived and found them drinking alcohol.
He asked Morgan to accompany him home, claiming he needed to collect his belongings, but an argument erupted when she refused.
Sithole then forcibly removed Morgan from the venue, assaulted her, and diverted their route to his home, where she was later killed.
On the morning of December 22, Sithole asked his brother-in-law to seek help to take Morgan to hospital, but killed her while the brother-in-law was away and fled the scene.
Morgan was later found with visible injuries, and police investigations led to Sithole’s arrest days later.
Despite pleading not guilty, Sithole was convicted on strong circumstantial evidence, including testimony of a history of abuse.
A post-mortem report confirmed that Morgan died from asphyxia caused by external pressure to the neck.
The court found no mitigating circumstances, sentenced Sithole to life imprisonment, declared him unfit to possess a firearm, and the NPA reaffirmed its commitment to fighting gender-based violence and femicide.
