A Mozambican woman, Clara Masinga (37), has been sentenced to 23 years in prison by the High Court of South Africa for the premeditated murder of her 11-year-old stepdaughter, Jennifer Gumbi.
Masinga, who lived with Jennifer and the child’s father in KwaMhlushwa, Malelane, pleaded guilty to the crime. According to court records, in March 2015, she lured Jennifer with the promise of buying clothes and, together with an accomplice, poisoned the child’s ice cream with rat poison. Jennifer’s body was later discovered in a shallow ditch near the Mlumati River.
During proceedings, Masinga admitted that her actions were unlawful and motivated by spite toward the child’s mother. The State emphasized the brutality of the murder, including the desecration of Jennifer’s body.
Judge Vukeya condemned the alarming rise in domestic violence and killings of women and children, stressing that no sentence could undo the harm inflicted. Masinga was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.