{"id":49160,"date":"2026-02-05T02:38:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=49160"},"modified":"2026-02-05T02:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:38:34","slug":"man-sentenced-life-jail-murder-five-year-old-niece-kzn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/05\/man-sentenced-life-jail-murder-five-year-old-niece-kzn\/","title":{"rendered":"Man sentenced to life in jail for murder of five-year-old niece in KZN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>The man was seen entering the room where the child was sleeping and carrying her outside. <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his little niece in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The man who has not been named appeared in the Mtubatuba Regional Court on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the man killed his 5-year-old niece in December 2024 at Enkanjini, Hlabisa, in northern KZN.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-murder\">Murder<\/h2>\n<p>On 31 December 2024, the man\u2019s family gathered at a family home for New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>At about 11pm, the man was seen entering the room where the child was sleeping and carrying her outside.<\/p>\n<p>NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said when the family later went into the yard to mark the New Year, they saw the accused carrying a white sack walking towards his shack, which was located nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey also realised that the child was missing and began searching for her. Concerned for her safety, family members questioned the accused about her whereabouts. He informed them that the child was at his shack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite a search of the surrounding area, the child was not found. When questioned again, the accused fled the scene,\u201d Ramkisson-Kara said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: ANC councillor Lazola Gungxe gunned down after meeting in Cape Town<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-blood-stained-knife\">\u2018Blood-stained knife\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Ramkisson-Kara said the family then returned to the man\u2019s shack, where the child\u2019s body was discovered inside a white sack, which was placed in a three-legged pot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA blood-stained knife was found on the floor nearby. The accused later presented himself at the police station, where he reported that he had stabbed the child and hid her body in a three-legged pot. He was subsequently arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trial\">Trial<\/h3>\n<p>During the trial,\u00a0 Prosecutor Phumlani Thembalethu Khoza presented evidence from an eyewitness and police official, as well as the post-mortem findings, photographic evidence, and the DNA analysis linking the blood found on the knife to the child.<\/p>\n<p>Ramkisson-Kara said in aggravation of sentence, a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the child\u2019s mother and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Sithembile Cebekhulu was presented to the court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mother described the trauma suffered by her family, stating that she remains in shock and struggles to come to terms with the fact that her brother was responsible for her child\u2019s death. She described her child as joyful and innocent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition to life imprisonment, the accused was declared unfit to possess a firearm, and the court ordered that his name be entered into the National Child Protection Register,\u201d Ramkisson-Kara said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-protecting-children\">Protecting children<\/h3>\n<p>Ramkisson-Kara said the NPA has welcomed the successful finalisation of this matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe remain committed to our pursuit of justice on behalf of the victims of crime. We trust that this sentence demonstrates the seriousness with which we view crimes of this nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ramkisson-Kara said children are amongst the most vulnerable members of society and should be protected.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:\u00a0Uncle arrested for alleged murder of his two-year-old niece in Nelspruit<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p>Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Man #sentenced #life #jail #murder #fiveyearold #niece #KZN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The man was seen entering the room where the child was sleeping and carrying her outside. A 27-year-old man has&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49162,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49160\/revisions\/49162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}