A South African lawyer who publicly mourned his girlfriend on social media has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of killing her and setting her body ablaze inside her car.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg handed Thubelihle Sbonakaliso Mpisi a life sentence on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Mpisi was convicted of the murder of Mahlako Malebo Rabalao, along with malicious injury to property and defeating the administration of justice.
He has remained in custody since his arrest on July 28, 2023, after abandoning his bail application.
Rabalao’s burnt remains were discovered inside her Mercedes-Benz on March 9, 2023, near her home in Midrand.
NPA spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole said Senior State Advocate Michelle Bayat told the court that although medical experts could not establish the precise cause of death because the body had been extensively burned, the available evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Rabalao had died before the fire was started.
The court accepted the prosecution’s case, which was built on circumstantial evidence, including cellphone records, forensic findings, expert testimony, and Mpisi’s actions before and after the incident.
Prosecutors argued successfully that Mpisi killed Rabalao before setting her body and vehicle on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence and cover up the crime.
The court also heard that the two had been in an intimate relationship.
According to evidence presented, Rabalao had informed relatives and friends that she planned to end the relationship and move out of the home she shared with Mpisi before she was killed.
Rabalao, an IT specialist, was approaching her 27th birthday when she was killed. She was making plans to leave the apartment she shared with Mpisi at the time of her death.
Mpisi, who was 30 when the crime occurred, was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal after a four-month investigation.
Before his arrest, Mpisi took to social media to express his shock and grief over the death of the mother of his three-year-old son.
