Girlfriend murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after minor testifies about violence in their home

A Limpopo man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend after the couple’s child this week told the Polokwane high about violence in their home. 

Ronny Maredi, of Dichoeung village in Marble Hall, was convicted for killing the mother of his child, Ellaine Thato Madihlaba.

Madihlaba succumbed to injuries after she was assaulted by Maredi in January 2021. Maredi also assaulted their four-year-old daughter. 

“During the trial the court heard the accused and the deceased were in a relationship and were staying together, but the relationship was toxic,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi .

Malabi-Dzhangi said Madihlaba’s uncle, who stayed in the same house with the couple, testified in court about the abuse. He told the court the accused asked him to lie to police about the death of his niece.

The couple's child, now six years old, took the stand in court to recount the abuse her mother endured when she was four.

“The child testified and told the court the accused assaulted her mother several times and he is no longer her father because he killed her,” Malabi-Dzhangi said. 

“In aggravation of sentence, state advocate Lerato Mohlaka said the court should know the little child was denied an opportunity to be raised by her biological mother because of the accused.

“She said the accused showed no remorse throughout the trial and the family never received an apology.” 

TimesLIVE