A mother, Pamela Selani, has been sentenced to three life sentences in the Pretoria high court for killing her son and two lovers, one of whom allegedly infected her with HIV. Selani was arrested in August 2020 and charged with three counts of murder and one of defeating the ends of justice. In 2016, she killed her boyfriend Michael Tshangisa, who she accused of infecting her with HIV, and a year later, her other boyfriend Gift Phiri, who she accused of assaulting her. Selani then killed her son, Avile Jongwa, in 2018 by assaulting him in front of his siblings. Selani asked the 14-year-old to help bury Avile in the same shallow grave where she had buried her two boyfriends.
Police arrested Selani in August after her surviving son faced mental challenges and confessed to the crimes her mother had committed. Early this month, Selani was convicted of three murders and one count of defeating the ends of justice. Judge Mokhine Masopa criticized the trial for having no victim impact statements, stating that the family of the two deceased were not traceable and that they might be still searching for their loved ones. Selani was sentenced to three life sentences and an additional five years for defeating the ends of justice.
