Wife guilty in gruesome killing

The family of a man whose mutilated body was transported in a wheelie bin to a pigsty said on Monday they were happy justice had finally prevailed – more than five years after the gruesome murder took place.

This, when Sisiwe Fiti-Dili, 58, was found guilty of her estranged husband’s murder.

Philisile Dili, 57, died after he was repeatedly stabbed, had his eyes gouged out and his nose and mouth slashed.

On Monday, Dili’s daughter Ntombekhaya, 37, watched as her former stepmother was found guilty in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.

Ntombekhaya, accompanied by her two young sons and other relatives, sat quietly in the public gallery as acting regional court magistrate Bukky Olowookorun handed down the guilty verdict against Fiti-Dili.

Fiti-Dili has been in custody since August 21 2013, after Dili was murdered on August 17.

Shortly after the murder, his body was found in a Motherwell pigsty.

“I am super happy with the guilty verdict.

“I hope the sentence will reflect the seriousness of the crime she has been convicted of,” Ntombekhaya said.

“She was never innocent from the word go.

“I am very happy today.” In January, Ntombekhaya expressed her frustration at the slow pace of justice and pleaded with regional court president Samson Dunywa to intervene in the matter. Earlier in the trial, the court heard how Fiti-Dili hired a henchman for R2,000 to murder her husband, who worked as a general worker for the department of education and was due for retirement.

Dili and Fiti-Dili were in the process of divorcing and he had moved out of their home.

But on the day of the attack, Dili arrived at his former home in Kolisi Street, Wells Estate, accompanied by Fiti-Dili’s biological daughter, Annelisa Hoboshe, with the purpose of dropping off groceries.

An argument ensued in the bedroom later that night.

The court heard that FitiDili left the bedroom and proceeded to the kitchen where she boiled some water and showered the unsuspecting Dili with it as he lay in bed.

Hoboshe testified that while he was writhing in pain, she had seen her mother on the phone.

Fiti-Dili, Hoboshe said, used the phone to summon “a tall man” – only known as Sihle – to “come now”.

Sihle, who is still on the run, arrived and allegedly stabbed Dili 15 times.

After that, Dili’s body was placed in a municipal bin and dumped in a pigsty 100m away from the house.

In handing down the longawaited judgment, Olowookorun said: “You killed the deceased without any justification.

“It matters less whether it’s you or Sihle who inflicted the wounds – you acted with a common purpose.”

Hoboshe told the court how her stepfather had screamed in the bedroom – three times – as he called her name and begged for help.

She said her mother told her to return to her room.

The case was postponed to April 4 for a probation officer’s report to be finalised ahead of sentencing.