A 47-year-old man from Soshanguve has been convicted by the Pretoria high court of the brutal, premeditated murder of his estranged wife after scalding her with boiling water in a bathtub and assaulting her.
At the time of the incident in October 2022, Sydney Maseti and Yvone Yolanda Maseti, 39, had been separated for over eight months due to man's infidelity after he was caught in a relationship with his brother-in-law's girlfriend.
In court, Maseti denied guilt, claiming the deceased had burnt herself.
However, prosecutor advocate Lawrence More led evidence from nine witnesses, including three medical experts and the couple’s 16-year-old child.
While Maseti remained in the marital home with their three children aged 16, 13, and 9, Yvone had moved to rented accommodation in Soshanguve Block TT.
According to NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, on the evening of October 28 2022, Maseti went to his wife's rental room where she was with their children. They had arranged that the wife would care for the children at the marital home while Maseti travelled.
“However, when he could not find her, he went to her residence again at about 10pm. When he arrived, an argument ensued between the two and he forced her to return with him to his home,” she said.
She said once there, Maseti instructed the children to remain in their bedroom before assaulting the deceased and burning her with boiling water in the bathtub.
“After hearing the mother’s screams, the eldest child alerted the police and reported what was happening. When officers arrived, the child opened the gate for them, but Maseti fled. Upon entering the house, the police found the deceased crawling on the lounge floor, where she informed police that her husband had burnt her,” Mahanjana said.
Mahanjana said Yvone was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries on December 31 2022.
She said the postmortem confirmed death was caused by severe burn wounds requiring surgical intervention.
Maseti handed himself over to the Soshanguve police on October 29 2022, where his children had been placed in care due to a lack of parental supervision.
The matter was postponed to November 6 for a pre-sentence report.
TimesLIVE
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