Mbombela, Mpumalanga — In a tense and emotionally charged courtroom, Abednigo Mbuyane, a 39-year-old traffic officer employed by the Mbombela local municipality, pleaded guilty to murder on Tuesday in the Mpumalanga High Court. The case stems from a fatal shooting in April 2023, when Mbuyane gunned down Thamsanca Nkosi, 34, whom he suspected of having an affair with his wife.
Nkosi, a traffic officer with the Mpumalanga provincial department, died after being shot twice inside a room at Kwanyoni Lodge, near Mbombela. The incident has sparked debate around domestic violence, the psychological toll of infidelity, and how quickly emotions can escalate into deadly confrontations.
“I know I have taken someone’s life and I’m sorry,” Mbuyane told the court during his testimony.
Mbuyane detailed the chain of events that led to the fatal altercation. He said he became suspicious after phoning his wife, who initially claimed to be at a shopping mall. Something about the silence in the background, he said, didn’t sit right with him. When questioned further, she told him she was in a restroom. Still unsettled, Mbuyane decided to track the location of the vehicle she was driving — his car — and was led straight to Kwanyoni Lodge.
Once there, he noticed the car parked outside Room One. He called again and heard the phone ringing from inside. His wife initially refused to open the door, prompting Mbuyane to break it down.
“I found her with the deceased,” Mbuyane said. “He [Nkosi] stopped me before I could even confront my wife.”
What followed was a physical altercation that turned deadly. Mbuyane claimed that during the scuffle, he felt overpowered and pulled out his firearm, shooting Nkosi twice. One shot proved fatal.
However, Judge Johannes Roelofse pressed Mbuyane about the details of the second shot. While Mbuyane insisted both men were standing when the shots were fired, postmortem findings revealed that Nkosi was on the ground when the second bullet struck him in the face.
“The second shot which killed the deceased — where was he, and where were you standing when you fired it?” asked Judge Roelofse.
Mbuyane ultimately conceded, stating Nkosi had been falling from the first shot when the second was fired — a detail that could weigh heavily during sentencing.
Court testimony also revealed past tensions in the marriage. Mbuyane’s wife told the court that he had previously forced her to call Nkosi in his presence and tell him she was married after discovering an SMS on her phone.
Since his arrest in April 2023, Mbuyane has remained behind bars, with bail denied on three separate occasions.
A Tragedy with Broader Implications
The case has gripped the Mpumalanga public and reignited a conversation around intimate partner violence, emotional trauma, and the legal system’s treatment of crimes of passion. While Mbuyane’s admission of guilt and plea for forgiveness suggest remorse, the court must now weigh his emotional state against the facts — including postmortem evidence and witness accounts.
Legal analysts suggest that while Mbuyane’s guilty plea could work in his favour during sentencing, the use of lethal force and contradictions in his version of events could result in a lengthy prison term.
As the community watches closely, the case serves as a grim reminder of how unaddressed relationship issues and emotional instability can spiral into irreversible tragedy.
The court is expected to deliver sentencing in the coming weeks.
