The Chris Hani District Commissioner, Major General Rudolph Adolph, has welcomed a 20-year prison sentence handed to a 47-year-old man who murdered his biological mother in 2025.
Samuel Ndesi was sentenced on Friday, 8 May 2026, in the Mthatha High Court.
The court heard that on the morning of Friday, 25 July 2025, Ndesi arrived at his homestead in Caca Location, Mhlontlo A/A, as his family was preparing for a traditional ceremony. Under the influence of alcohol, he confronted his mother, Retuie Ndesi, 68, and accused her of bewitching him and other family members. He then produced a knife and fatally stabbed her.
Ndesi was arrested and remained in custody until his sentencing.
The court convicted Ndesi on two counts: eight years’ imprisonment for imputing witchcraft, a contravention of the Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957, and 20 years for murder. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, resulting in an effective 20 years of direct imprisonment. Ndesi was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
