(Thubelihle Sbonakaliso Mpisi And Girlfriend. Photo Credit: Daily Post)
Thubelihle Sbonakaliso Mpisi, a South African lawyer, has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder of his girlfriend, Mahlako Malebo Rabalao, whose charred remains were discovered inside her Mercedes-Benz in Midrand, Johannesburg, in March 2023.
The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg convicted Mpisi of murder, malicious injury to property, and defeating the administration of justice.
Prosecutors established that Rabalao had been killed before her body and vehicle were set alight in a bid to destroy evidence and conceal the crime.
Rabalao, a 26-year-old IT specialist and mother of a three-year-old boy, had reportedly told family and friends of her plans to end the relationship and move out of the apartment she shared with Mpisi shortly before her death.
Investigators relied on cellphone records, forensic evidence and expert testimony, alongside Mpisi’s conduct before and after the incident, to secure the conviction.
He was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal following a four-month investigation and has been in custody since July 2023.
Prior to his arrest, Mpisi had publicly mourned Rabalao on social media, expressing shock and grief over her death.
On Tuesday, August 4, 2026, the court handed him a life sentence for the crime.