Murder: Girlfriend sentenced to life in jail for killing girl, 3

A caregiver has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder of the child she was supposed to be looking after.

Nompumelelo Portia Nkambule, 37, from  Louwville in Barberton was sentenced in the Mpumalanga High Court to life imprisonment for the murder of her ex-boyfriend’s minor girl, Philisiwe Charlotte Nkosi, 3. 

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said:

“Nkambule and the victim’s father were in a love relationship and separated after the death of the victim. Between December 2020 to February 2021, the victim’s father, Collen Nkosi took a decision to place the victim under the care of his girlfriend Nkambule as he wanted to go to look for a job. This was after the death of the biological mother of the victim in September 2020,” she said. 

While the victim was in the Nkambule’s voluntary care, she struggled to relieve herself and appeared as if she was not potty trained. 

“Nkambule started to assault her with a tree branch on her body whenever she soiled herself on separate occasions over a period of time. As a result, the victim sustained severe multiple blunt injuries on her body and at the back of the head. She succumbed to the effects of the injuries which resulted to her internal organs shutting down,” she said.

An inquest docket to probe the circumstances of the death of the victim was conducted and it led to the arrest of the caregiver, Nkambule. 

Nkambule pleaded not guilty to the murder.

State advocate, Tula Bekwa, led evidence of the investigating officer, who testified that during the investigation, he had managed to question the victim’s father about his daughter’s injuries and he had testified that the child did not have any injuries before visiting Nkambule.  His evidence was supported  by the testimony of Nkambule ‘s daughter who witnessed her mother assaulting the victim with a tree branch on two occasions. 

“She stated that, she saw the deceased falling on the ground. Their evidence was supported with a testimony of a medical doctor who conducted a post mortem. She testified that the victim’s kidneys were bleeding and eventually caused the kidneys to collapse leading to her death,” she said.

Nkambule was found guilty of murder as charged. 

Bekwa handed in a victim impact statement in which the victim’s father said he has lost trust in anyone as his child had died at the hands of the person he trusted. He added that, the death of his child had disturbed him mentally and physically. 

Acting Judge ,Ntombizanele Ndlokovana said he could find no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence. She sentenced Nkambule to life imprisonment for premeditated murder.