STATE ASKS COURT TO IMPOSE LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN A FEMICIDE CASE IN GEORGE 

09 OCTOBER 2025 

STATE ASKS COURT TO IMPOSE LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN A FEMICIDE CASE IN GEORGE 

George, South Africa; the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, sitting at the Eastern Circuit Local Division in George, will sentence Johan Miana following his plea of guilty for the murder of his girlfriend, Maria Karen Ambraal. 

Senior State Advocate John Reyneveld has asked the court to impose life imprisonment as the accused has been convicted of murder in terms of provisions of Section 51(1) read with Part I of Schedule 2 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 and further read with the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 as amended. 

Adv Ryneveld told the court that the accused was convicted for the murder of his wife in 2014 and was sentenced to 17 years' direct imprisonment. He was released on parole in April 2024. This means he had served 10 years of imprisonment when he was released on parole and was still on parole when he met the 23-year-old deceased in July 2024. They started a relationship, and she moved in with him. He submitted that the minimum sentence of life imprisonment is applicable as the couple was in a romantic relationship at the time, as if married and in terms of the Domestic Violence Act, amounts to a domestic relationship. 

In his guilty plea statement, the accused states that he met and started a romantic relationship with the deceased in July 2014. She moved in with him at Eagle Falls Farm, Kammanasie, Uniondale. On 08 November 2024, he planned to visit his friend Johannes Vaaltyn who worked and stayed at Meyer Le Roux Farm. This was his routine every Friday after work. He decided to invite the deceased to join him, and they walked the 7km distance to visit his friend and his wife to socialise. They arrived around 7 pm, drank, and later that evening went to visit other friends on the same farm. They drank more and he also smoked a dagga zol. They left Eagle Falls Farm after midnight. 

An argument started as they walked back home but he could not recall the exact details of the argument. He claims he became so angry that he lost control and started to hit the deceased multiple times with clenched fists on her face and abdomen. She attempted to fight back but fell to the ground and attempted to crawl away from him. He took out his work knife, which he always carried with him, and started stabbing her multiple times all over her body. 

The knife fell, and I couldn’t find it. He grabbed a stone that was lying close to them and hit her multiple times all over her head, including her forehead. She became still, and he assumed that she was dead as she stopped breathing. He panicked, left her there and approached his employer and asked him to call the ambulance services and the police. He admitted that though he was under the influence of alcohol and dagga, he knew exactly what he was doing, since he consumed alcohol and smoked dagga regularly. 

He admitted that when he assaulted, stabbed and hit the deceased, he knew at all relevant times that his conduct was wrongful and punishable by the court. He regretted that he committed the offence and requested the court to have mercy on him when passing sentence. 

Adv Ryneveld argued that the accused hit the helpless deceased with clenched fists several times, stabbed her with a knife several times and then he hit her with a stone over her head several times until she stopped breathing. In 2014, he killed his wife by stabbing her. Adv Ryneveld also led the evidence of the accused’s previous conviction to prove that he was out on parole at the time of the brutal murder. He committed the murder less than seven months after his release. There were no substantial and compelling circumstances for the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment. 

The NPA welcomes the conviction and hopes the court will send an unambiguous message in the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. 

Issued by: 

Eric Ntabazalila 

National Prosecuting Authority 

Regional Communications Manager – Western Cape 

Tel: (021) 487 7308 

Cell: 073 062 1222