Mapaballo Borotho
- A 42-year-old Limpopo man has confessed to allegedly killing his 26-year-old girlfriend, Nokuhle Malaza, who was reported missing earlier this month.
- He led police to a bushy area where her decomposed body was found after admitting to assaulting her with a beer bottle.
- The case has sparked community outrage and renewed concern over South Africa’s ongoing gender-based violence crisis.
A forty-two-year-old man has been arrested for the brutal murder of a 26-year-old woman in Groblersdal, Limpopo.
26-year-old Nokuhle Malaza was reported missing earlier this month at the Carolina Police Station. Malaza was last seen with her 42-year-old male friend at Kromkrans Village on Saturday, 01 November 2025.
The two were reportedly seen leaving a local tavern together, but since that evening, the woman never returned home, while the male friend was seen back in the area alone.
Police Spokesperson Jabu Ndubane says the suspect allegedly fled the area and went to hide at his sister’s house when the community began asking questions about Nokuhle.
“Preliminary investigations by Carolina detectives led them to Arnot, where they were informed that the suspect had been taken to Middelburg Hospital. On Monday, 10 November 2025, the police proceeded to the hospital, where they were told that the suspect had been transferred to Witbank Hospital for specialist treatment. Detectives left their contact details with the hospital for follow-up once he was available for questioning as a person of interest,” said Ndubane.
This led to a protest by community members at Kromkrans. They blocked roads demanding for the suspect’s arrest.
Ndubane says police later returned to Middelburg Hospital and learned that the suspect had been discharged the previous day.
“They proceeded to his sister’s residence but did not find him there. However, a vehicle allegedly used during the woman’s disappearance was impounded for further investigation. Attempts to contact him on his cellphone were unsuccessful”.
The 42-year-old suspect was later arrested with his luggage at Groblersdal in Limpopo, while waiting for transport.
He revealed to police officers that he had assaulted his girlfriend with a beer bottle and left her unconscious.
“A pointing-out was conducted, during which the suspect led police to a bushy area on a farm between Chrissiesmeer and Carolina. There, police discovered the naked and decomposed body of the deceased”.
He is expected to appear before the Chief Albert Luthuli Magistrate’s Court on 17 November 2025, facing a charge of murder.
This is not just a statistic, it is yet another woman dying in the hands of a man in South Africa where Gender Based Violence and Femicide has been described as a second pandemic after the Covid-19, raising even more cocern about the safety of women in the country.
READ NEXT: Wear blue and take charge: Gauteng marks World Diabetes Day in Soweto
