A Limpopo woman has been handed a 27-year prison sentence for murdering her husband.

Mapula Florah Manaka, 40, was on Tuesday handed the sentence by the Limpopo Division of the High Court.

The court found that she had orchestrated the murder of her husband Archie Manaka, aged 43, during an incident in April 2020.

The High Court in Polokwane heard that the deceased's wife and her boyfriend plotted a murder against her husband who was an IT Specialist in Polokwane.

Limpopo SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant, Colonel Mamphaswa Seabi, said: “On 8 April 2020, the deceased was attacked and stabbed several times at his home in Moletjie, Ga-Makweya, in the Seshego policing area outside the City of Polokwane during what was believed to be a house robbery.

“When the police arrived at the scene, the deceased's wife reported that three unknown suspects forcefully entered the house, attacked her husband and took an undisclosed amount of cash and a laptop and fled the scene.”

Cases of murder and robbery were opened. The police investigations and manhunt for the suspects involved ensued.

Seabi said a Special Task Team comprising the Provincial Tracking Team, Provincial Investigation Unit and Provincial Crime Intelligence Unit was established to spearhead the investigation.

The deceased's wife, her boyfriend Agrinate Makhubela, aged 27, and his accomplice, aged 30, were arrested a few months after the incident.

“The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Noko Mashitisho, attached to the Provincial Investigation Unit, successfully opposed bail and the accused were kept in custody until the finalisation of trial. The third accused has since turned into a State witness. Meanwhile, the case against the accused's boyfriend Agrinate Makhubela, is yet to be finalised in court.

“The accused was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for murder and seven years for conspiracy to commit murder. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning the accused will serve an effective 20 years imprisonment.”

The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, expressed pleasure by the exceptional investigations conducted by Sergeant Mashitisho, assisted by the team that led to the ultimate arrest and subsequent incarceration of the accused for a long time.

Source: South African Government News Agency