Criminal: Killer cannot benefit from wife's murder – ruling

In what the Cape Times report describes as a 'landmark judgment' – where a man was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his estranged wife over sole ownership of his RDP house – Western Cape High Court Judge Daniel Thulare has ordered he also forfeit the property to benefit their child. The killer of Nosicelo Tsipa, Babsy Ntamehlo (43), will not only stay behind bars but must not benefit from his marital share. In September 2020, Ntamehlo strangled Tsipa, put her body in a wheelie bin, set her on fire and buried her in a shallow grave near a riverbank in Durbanville. Thulare said Ntamehlo killed his wife because he didn't want her to receive a share in the property. ‘The message should be clear – a person who kills another should not be entitled to benefit from the estate of a person whom he/she has killed. The accused who killed Nosicela for her share of the house may not be enriched by his own unlawful conduct. In my view the law must be fair, the accused must be found on policy consideration to lack the capacity to benefit from the person who he has unlawfully killed,’ he said. State Advocate Megan September requested that the court step in pertaining to the future of the 17-year-old boy child. Thulare ordered the patrimonial benefits of the couple in respect of the house be in favour of the minor. An advocate has been appointed as a curator and Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been ordered to ensure the establishment of a trust and assist with ownership rights of the property.