Yibanathi MacGyver Ndema, aged 45, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court of South Africa Eastern Cape Division for the murder of his wife, Noluvuyo Nonkwelo, in 2019.

The court also sentenced Ndema to five years for acting to defeat justice and two years, suspended for five years, on three counts of assault.

The judge declared him unfit to possess a firearm. Ndema had reported his wife missing in July 2019, despite knowing it wasn’t true.

The marriage was marked by domestic abuse, with Ndema previously convicted for assaulting his wife.

Nonkwelo’s remains were found buried in their home’s bathtub.