Rita Odafe
On Monday, March 13, 2023, the Mpumalanga High Court sentenced 47-year-old Phumaphi Gloria Gwebu to life imprisonment for paying R20,000 to gunmen to murder her husband, Sipho Shadrack Dimba, in order to collect on five insurance policies she had taken out for him. The couple, who lived together with their children in Msogwaba Trust, had one policy that would pay out R530,000 upon Dimba’s death.
In her plea explanation, Gwebu admitted to arranging the hit with the gunmen a few weeks prior to the murder. On December 12, 2019, they entered the house during the night, strangled Dimba while Gwebu was present, and threw his body into a nearby river before fleeing. Two days later, a passerby noticed the body and alerted the family. Gwebu was arrested a year later after one of the killers confessed to the police and implicated her as the mastermind behind the crime.
Prosecutor advocate Eugene Mathebula told the court that the murder was premeditated, brutal and motivated by greed. The court found no reason to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
The National Prosecution Authority welcomed the verdict and praised the work of the prosecution and investigating team. “We hope this sentence will deter potential offenders,” the statement added.
