Durban — Slain mother and child Smangele Simamane and 12-year-old daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu will finally rest in peace.
These were the words of Senzo Simamane after the conviction of his wife's and stepdaughter's killers in the Durban High Court.
Slindile Pamela Zamisa and her daughter, Andile, were convicted on Friday by Judge Sibisi.
Simamane's body was found stuffed into a suitcase. She had been tortured with boiling water and strangled.
Sbongakonke was strangled with a night gown belt after Slindile had pressed her foot on the child's neck.
The two were killed in the Zamisa home in 2020 in Newlands East, a stone’s throw from their home.
"I have found closure. Even if it has taken this long I finally have justice. My name has been cleared. So many people accused me of this when this started. I'll rest easy now that I've been exonerated and they will also finally rest in peace," said Senzo, speaking outside court after the judgment.
Simamane's brother and Sbonga's uncle, Siza Mthembu, said their closure would come when the accused were sentenced on Thursday.
"Her children, and all of us, will heal and get closure when we hear the sentence that will be imposed."
Simamane's mother-in-law, Nomkhosi Simamane, said it was a long and hard journey for the families.
Nomkhosi's sister, Zantombi Cele, said she was elated.
"I feel like breaking into song and dance right now. That wound of the murders has erupted and healed. Even though this will not bring them back, it brings some comfort. My one desire is that they take the keys they have used to lock the bars they are behind and toss them deep in the ocean. We were further traumatised by the trial as they showed no remorse.
"They did a horrible thing."
After Judge Sibisi convicted the two women, the State in aggravation of sentence read into the record Department of Correctional Services victim impact statements by Senzo, his mother and Mthembu.
These detailed how Senzo was affected psychologically having been on medication for post traumatic stress disorder.
In it, he said their child, who was two years old at the time, was now five and in grade R.
During the trial, it was heard that the attack on Simamane and Sbonga came after a teen ‘prophesied’ that Simamane was involved in the murder of Bheki Ngcobo, Slindile's late husband and the father of State witness Nomfundo Truelove Ngcobo.
It was Nomfundo’s evidence that placed both women at the scene in the Zamisa home with the deceased.
"They were accusing everyone they hate with Bheki's murder - they must be removed from society," said Senzo in his statement.
Mthembu said: "My sister and her children will never see each other for eternity. Boiling my sister with water like that, they squashed and forced her body into a suitcase. As if all that was not enough they dump them like rubbish," Mthembu said in his statement.
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