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Smiling and stylish Sivhidzho goes down

MULALO Sivhidzho smiled as innocently as a high school girl when she entered the Johannesburg high court to receive her sentence for murdering her husband

Dressed elegantly in a colourful blouse, hair neatly tied back and make-up impeccably applied, Sivhidzho posed for the cameras and showed absolutely no remorse when acting Judge Naren Pandya handed her a life sentence.

She wiped off a tear before smiling and hugging her family after being sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional five years for kidnapping and three years for malicious damage to property.

"My daughter is innocent," Sivhidzho's father said after hugging her.

She refused to speak to the media when she was escorted down to the cells.

Mathata Tsedu, her father-in-law, said: "I do not believe that parents send their children to do things like this but at the same time the attitude displayed to us by Mulalo's parents was almost as if we have killed their child when we haven't. We are the victims.

"Even today, as we stand here, they can go and hug and go and see her in jail but for us, if we have to do something for Avhatakali, we must go to Honeydew. Our son is gone, that is our reality.

"We are satisfied and we have said before that we have full confidence in the criminal justice system of this country.

"Today must mark the first day in our lives in moving on without forgetting who Avhatakali was."

Netshisaulu's mother said she was relieved that justice had been done.

"Though the case is over and justice has been done, it will still not bring my son back," she said.

State prosecutor Maro Papachristoforou said this was a difficult case especially because it dragged on for so long.

"Mulalo made it particularly difficult because she showed no remorse even to the very end. Justice has been served and I'm very happy about that," she said.

Papachristoforou said it was a difficult case and took a lot of preparation having had to go through 14000 pages of evidence.

Sivhidzho and Netshisaulu met at the Vaal University of Technology while studying in October 2000 and were married in April 2006.

In the six months that they were married, he bought her a house, a car and took her on a Mediterranean cruise.

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