Pamela Ncumisa Selani, 47, from Olievenhoutbosch, was sentenced to three life terms by the Pretoria High Court for the murders of her two lovers and her son, Avile Jonjwana.
Pamela Selani sentenced to three life terms
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The court also handed her an additional five-year sentence for obstructing justice.
The judgment came after a detailed recounting of events that began in 2016.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the murders were a result of a series of violent and premeditated actions initiated by Selani over several years.
Here’s why Selani killed her son and two lovers
In 2016, Selani discovered that her then-partner, Michael Changisa, a Malawian national, had infected her with HIV.
This led to a significant argument between the two. Weeks after this confrontation, Selani enlisted the help of her other boyfriend,
Gift, also a Malawian who lived in the same area, to kill Changisa. On the night of the murder, Gift hid in the bathroom of the house Selani shared with Changisa.
After Changisa fell asleep, Gift emerged and repeatedly struck him on the head with a hammer, in the presence of Selani’s two minor children.
Following the murder, Selani and Gift buried Changisa’s body in her yard.
In 2017, while living together, Selani and her 17-year-old son Avile conspired to kill Gift, who had started abusing Selani.
They poisoned Gift and then drowned him until he died.
After his death, they buried his body in a shallow grave on top of Changisa’s grave in the yard. Avile, who had developed a drug addiction, began demanding money from his mother and threatened to report her to the police.
One night, Avile forced his mother and his younger sibling out of their house. They sought refuge at the house of Selani’s third boyfriend in the same area.
The following night, Selani and her younger son returned to their house and hid in the yard.
When Avile went to bed, Selani instructed her younger son to sneak into the house and open the door for her.
She then grabbed a hammer and repeatedly struck Avile on the head until he died, subsequently burying him on top of the other two bodies in her yard.
The gruesome series of events came to light on 4 August 2020, when Selani took her 14-year-old son to a traditional healer due to his illness.
During the consultation, the 14-year-old revealed the murders to the healer. The healer pretended to call another healer for assistance but instead contacted a community leader.
When the community leader arrived, the boy recounted the entire story, leading the leader to report the matter to the police.
Selani and her son were arrested the same day upon returning home. The charges against the son were later withdrawn, and he became a state witness.