A local man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a 2019 sexual assault. The Madadeni Regional Court sentenced 34-year-old Siyabonga Christopher Xulu on 26 January 2026.
Xulu received a life term for rape and a further five years for kidnapping. The court heard that on 15 June 2019, a 48-year-old woman was accosted by four men while walking home from work in the Drycut area of Osizweni. The men dragged her to a secluded field where she was raped by one suspect, later identified as Xulu, after the others fled.
The investigation was conducted by the Newcastle Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, which built the case leading to Xulu’s conviction and life sentence.