A 29-year-old man, Jabulani Nkosi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court in Mpumalanga, South Africa, for murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Boitsoko Khoza.

He also received an additional five-year sentence for setting her body on fire.

The court delivered the judgment on Thursday, July 3, 2025, after Nkosi was found guilty of murder and arson.

Khoza was last seen on November 22, 2023, when she told her colleagues she would not be at work as she planned to visit her parents in Mamelodi. When she failed to arrive, her family reported her missing.

Three days later, her flat in Evander was discovered on fire. Firefighters who responded to the scene found Khoza’s charred body inside.

A post-mortem revealed she had been beaten, stabbed, and was ten weeks pregnant before her body was set ablaze.

Nkosi was later arrested after admitting the crime to friends. Evidence presented in court included expert testimonies and proof that Nkosi sold Khoza’s phone for R650 shortly after her death.

The court described the act as brutal and noted that Nkosi showed no remorse.

The judge emphasized the seriousness of gender-based violence and the additional cruelty of killing a pregnant woman.

Nkosi will serve life in prison, with the five-year arson sentence running concurrently. He was also declared unfit to own a firearm.