A woman from South Africa’s capital has been sentenced to three life terms after being convicted of murdering her two boyfriends and her teenage son in a case that has shocked the country.
The sentencing was handed down at the Pretoria High Court, where judges described the offences as premeditated, brutal and marked by a sustained pattern of deception. The Pretoria murders took place between 2016 and 2018 but only came to light years later following a disturbing disclosure by one of the accused’s children.
Ncumisa Selani was found guilty of orchestrating the killing of her then-boyfriend, Michael Changisa, in 2016 after learning she was HIV-positive. Prosecutors told the court that she blamed Changisa for her diagnosis and sought revenge. Evidence showed that Selani enlisted another partner, Michael Phiri, to carry out the murder. Changisa was killed and buried in the backyard of Selani’s home in Pretoria, where his disappearance went unreported for months.
In 2017, Phiri moved into the same property with Selani and her two sons. The relationship later deteriorated, with the court hearing accounts of violence and intimidation. Prosecutors said Selani and her eldest son eventually killed Phiri, burying his body in the same grave as Changisa in an attempt to hide the crime. The Pretoria murders escalated further the following year.
In 2018, Selani’s 17-year-old son began using drugs and allegedly threatened to expose the killings unless his mother gave him money. The court heard that Selani, fearing arrest, decided to silence him. She murdered her son and buried him alongside the two men.
The crimes remained hidden until 2020, when Selani’s younger son fell ill. During a visit to a traditional healer, he reportedly spoke of the deaths, believing ancestral spirits were causing his sickness. The healer alerted police, prompting an investigation.
Officers later exhumed remains from the property, with forensic tests confirming the identities of all three victims. Selani was arrested and later convicted on three counts of murder.
Handing down sentence, the judge said the Pretoria murders showed a “complete disregard for human life”, noting the particular gravity of killing one’s own child. Selani will spend the rest of her life in prison.
The case has reverberated across Gauteng, highlighting the hidden nature of domestic violence and the crucial role communities can play in exposing long-concealed crimes.
