Durban — One of the accused charged with the murders of a mother and child who were stuffed into a suitcase walked back down into the grids of the Durban High Court teary-eyed as she waved to her family in the gallery.
Andile Zamisa, 23, is charged with her mother, Slindile Pamela Zamisa, and a teenager who can’t be named, with the 2020 murders of Smangele Simamane and her daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu,12.
The trio’s trial was anticipated to begin on Tuesday. However, it was rolled over to Monday because the judge presiding in that court wanted to deal with an ongoing case before him.
“I’m adjourning this matter to April 17. That is when it will be decided when it will be heard. I currently have a case that is ongoing before me. We want to finish with it as it started in 2018. On April 17, we will know better what will be happening with your trial,” said Judge Graham Lopes.
The bodies of Simamane and her daughter were found stuffed into a big suitcase that was dumped on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka.
Two other accused, Zamisa’s stepdaughter and her lover, are already behind bars and have served nearly a year of the sentences meted out to them by the Pietermaritzburg High Court for their part in the killings.
Zamisa’s stepdaughter, Nomfundo Truelove Ngcobo, was sentenced to 20 years, while Nicholas Sithembiso Lamula got six years imprisonment.
The duo had pleaded guilty to the murders, leading to their speedy conviction and sentence last year.
In her plea, Ngcobo said that the motive for the killing was that she believed that Simamane was part of a group of people who were responsible for her father’s death through witchcraft.
Lamula, in his plea, told how Zamisa managed to lure Simamane and her daughter to a house in Durban, where she blamed them for a close relative’s death.
Zamisa and her daughter have been in custody since their arrest in 2021, having been refused bail by the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court, while the teen was released into the custody of a guardian.
The now 16-year-old accused walked into the dock in court wearing high heels while Zamisa and her daughter emerged from the grids having already spent two Christmases behind bars.
Even though the trial that Simamane’s family had hoped to gain closure from was adjourned, they remained optimistic.
Speaking outside court, Zantombi Cele, who is Simamane’s in-law, said that while the adjournment was yet another delay, she found solace in the knowledge that the next set date was a matter of days away.
“We have been coming to court since they were arrested, there have been delays previously last year, but at least it was not adjourned to another month. We remain positive that the trial will finally begin soon.”
Simamane’s mother-in-law, Nomkhosi Simamane, said even though the details that would emerge during the trial would open old wounds for them, they yearned for answers and closure, especially for Simamane’s toddler.
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