Sibongile Happiness Ngwadla has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for brutally killing Simphiwe Ntobeko Xaba from Umlazi in August 2025.
The Durban High Court has sentenced an Umlazi woman to 25 years’ imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering five-year-old Simphiwe Ntobeko Xaba in August 2025 after blaming the boy’s mother for introducing her to gambling, which she said left her drowning in debt.
Handing down the sentence, Judge Nompumelelo Radebe said Sibongile Happiness Ngwadla, 40, belonged to a category of offenders who should be removed from society. However, the judge found that substantial and compelling circumstances existed to justify a departure from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment for murder.
Judge Radebe took into account that Ngwadla is the mother of five children, who are now being cared for by others while she is incarcerated.
The court also considered that Ngwadla pleaded guilty to all the charges against her, including kidnapping, murder and attempted extortion. After abducting Ntobeko, she sent his mother, Ntombifikile Xaba, a WhatsApp text demanding a R60,000 eWallet payment in exchange for his safe return.
