By Bongiwe Zwane-Maseko
A Mpumalanga woman who hired hitmen to murder her husband for a hefty insurance pay-out has been sentenced to life in prison.
The Mpumalanga High Court sentenced Phumaphi Gloria Gwebu for the murder of Sipho Shadrack Dimba on December 19, 2019. According to News 24, the police arrested Gwebu, 47, in 2020 after one of the
hitmen confessed to receiving R20 000 from her to kill Dimba.
She also pleaded guilty to the crime and told the court she had taken out five insurance policies for Dimba. One of them was to pay out R530 000. Gwebu waited for the policies to mature and hired the killers to murder Dimba, 52.
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National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the killers stormed the couple’s house in Msogwaba Trust.
“The accused paid the hitmen R20 000 for the task. Two days later, a passer-by noticed the deceased’s body in the river and alerted the family who called the police,” added Nyuswa.
Prosecutor Eugene Mathebula argued the murder was premeditated. Nyuswa said the NPA welcomed the sentence.
