A South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has sentenced South African lawyer, Thubelihle Sbonakaliso Mpisi, to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend, Mahlako Malebo Rabalao, whose body was discovered inside her burnt Mercedes-Benz in Midrand in March 2023.
The court convicted Mpisi on charges of murder, malicious injury to property, and defeating the administration of justice after prosecutors established that he killed the 26-year-old IT specialist before setting her body and vehicle on fire in an attempt to conceal the crime.
Rabalao, who was also the mother of a three-year-old boy, had reportedly informed relatives and friends of her intention to end her relationship with Mpisi and move out of the apartment they shared before her death.
During the trial, prosecutors relied on cellphone records, forensic evidence, expert testimony, and Mpisi’s actions before and after the incident to secure the conviction.
Mpisi was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal following a four-month investigation and had remained in custody since July 2023. Before his arrest, he had publicly mourned Rabalao on social media.
The South Gauteng High Court handed down the life sentence on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.