A 27-year-old man now serves life imprisonment after the Mtubatuba Regional Court convicted him of murdering his five-year-old niece. The killing took place on 31 December 2024 at Enkanjini in Hlabisa, northern KwaZulu-Natal. Family members gathered for New Year celebrations when the accused carried the sleeping child out of the house shortly before 11pm.

NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said relatives later spotted him walking toward his shack with a white sack. When the child went missing, he claimed she was at his shack. He fled when pressed again. Family members found her body inside the sack, placed in a three-legged pot. A blood-stained knife lay nearby. The man later handed himself over to police and admitted stabbing the child.

Family Trauma and Evidence Presented in Court

Prosecutor Phumlani Thembalethu Khoza led evidence that included an eyewitness account, police testimony, post-mortem findings, photographs, and DNA results linking blood on the knife to the victim.

The child’s mother submitted a victim impact statement. She described her ongoing shock and pain, noting that her own brother killed her joyful and innocent daughter. The court declared the accused unfit to possess a firearm and ordered his name entered into the National Child Protection Register.

NPA Welcomes Verdict as Strong Message on Child Protection

The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the life sentence handed down in the KZN niece murder case. Ramkisson-Kara said the NPA stays committed to justice for victims of crime and views offences against children with the utmost seriousness. She added that children remain among the most vulnerable members of society and must be protected. No response has been received from the convicted man’s representatives.