Man who killed wife's alleged boyfriend pleads for forgiveness

Thursday, May 29, 2025 -A South African man accused of murdering the person he suspected to be his wife’s lover has pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness, telling the court he lost control upon finding the two together at a lodge.

Abednigo Mbuyane, 39, appeared before the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela on Tuesday, May 27, where he admitted to fatally shooting 34-year-old Thamsanca Nkosi in April 2023. Both men were traffic officers, with Nkosi working for the Mpumalanga provincial traffic department and Mbuyane employed by the Mbombela local municipality.

“I know I have taken someone’s life and I’m sorry,” Mbuyane told the court during his testimony.

He recounted how he had called his wife, who claimed to be at a shopping mall. Suspicious about the quiet background during the call, Mbuyane said she later told him she was in a toilet. Not convinced, he used a tracking device on the car his wife was driving and located it at Kwanyoni Lodge. There, he found the car parked outside Room One.

“I phoned and I heard the phone ringing. I stood at the door and knocked. She said she was coming, but she didn’t open. That’s when I broke the door and went inside. I found her with the deceased [Nkosi], who stopped me before I could confront my wife,” he said.

According to Mbuyane, a physical altercation followed, during which he felt overpowered and then drew his firearm, shooting Nkosi twice.

Mbuyane’s wife testified that he had previously discovered an SMS on her phone, prompting him to force her to call the sender and disclose her marital status.

Presiding Judge Johannes Roelofse scrutinised Mbuyane’s account of the shooting, particularly the second and fatal bullet. Although Mbuyane claimed the shots were fired quickly during the fight, postmortem results indicated that Nkosi was lying on the ground when he was struck in the face.

Confronted with this detail, Mbuyane acknowledged that Nkosi had been falling from the initial shot when the second was fired.

Since his arrest in April 2023, Mbuyane has been denied bail three times and remains in custody.