A 36-year-old South African man, Sandiso Faku has been sentenced to 25 years’ direct imprisonment for strangling his girlfriend, Ntombizodwa Mei, to d3ath following a jealous rage.
Faku was sentenced by Judge Andre le Grange in the George Circuit High Court sitting in Knysna on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
The State charged Faku with murder and defeating and obstructing the administration of justice, and he confessed to the crimes in Section 112(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977 statement.
He admitted that he and the deceased were in a romantic relationship and stayed together at their house at 437 Nekkies, Knysna. They were not married but lived in a domestic relationship as contemplated in Section 1(b) of the Domestic Violence Act, 116 of 1998.
On 25 April 2025, the deceased’s work transport dropped her off at their residence at 21:00, and they visited Noxozola and her brother, where they drank.
They later left for home, where they drank further. He claims that an unknown man came looking for the deceased, and his presence led him to confront the deceased.
He accused her of cheating with the unknown man. Noxozola, her brother and the unknown male left, and the accused and the deceased were left alone in the house.
They went to bed but continued arguing. He claims he became furious because the deceased started to bring up money issues, and he knew that was an attempt to get his attention away from her cheating.
He sl@pped her in the face as they were lying in bed next to each other because she kept denying that she was cheating with the unknown man. He was not satisfied with slapping her, and he decided to sit on top of her with his knees on top of her arms to prevent her from moving.
He then choked her with his right hand by pressing it around her neck with force. He noticed that she was losing consciousness, spitting blood onto his t-shirt, and she became motionless thereafter. He panicked, went to the kitchen to fetch water, and attempted to resuscitate her, but it was too late.
He realised she was dead and there was nothing he could do to save her. As the morning broke on the Saturday of 26 April 2025, he became scared that he might be caught and did not know what to do with the deceased’ body.
He decided to roll her body in blankets and pulled her out of the house to the outside toilet. He placed her in an upright position on the toilet seat, but her body tipped over as he attempted to leave the toilet. He decided to throw her headfirst into the pit latrine toilet.
He admitted to Senior Public Prosecutor Phumzile Nogonyoti, who prosecuted the matter, that this was an attempt to hide the body and distance himself from the murder.
The deceased’s family members asked him about the deceased, and he lied to them that she was at work. Mei’s colleague informed her family that they had reported her missing, about the whereabouts of the deceased body, and that was how the police discovered the body of the deceased in the toilet.
He admitted that he knew his conduct was wrongful and punishable by the court. He regretted that he committed the offences and requested the court to have mercy on him when passing sentence.
The accused was sentenced to 25 years’ direct imprisonment for m8rder and 7 years’ direct imprisonment for defeating and obstructing the administration of justice.
Nogonyoti informed the court that the accused was on parole for a previous conviction for robbery with aggravating circumstances, for which he was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment.
The court ordered him to serve the last 7 years of his previous sentence before he begins serving the 25 years of direct imprisonment.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Nicollette Bell, applauded the sentence handed down by the court but condemned the vicious cycle of gender-based violence and femicide, which continues to be the yoke around the neck of women.
She committed the NPA in the Western Cape to continue the fight against the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide, as it can never be overemphasised how important it is to win this fight. The NPA will continue to be vigorous in our pursuit of such cases to serve as a deterrent.