Durban — The State says the man on trial for the kidnapping and murder of his estranged wife lured the woman to his house on the day of her disappearance.
This was what State prosecutor advocate Thabani Buthelezi said in the Durban High Court as he cross-examined Sfiso Professor Ndlovu this week.
Ndovu, an inspector at Tansnat bus service is charged with the April 2020 murder of Khulukazi Ndlovu.
Khulukazi had been missing for a few days when her car was found burnt and abandoned in a cemetery in Molweni.
Human remains were found inside the wreck, but the identity of the body was only confirmed six months later through DNA.
Her family had been unable to bury her because of the delay in confirming the identity of the burnt body.
Ndovu was arrested nearly six months after the charred body of Khulukazi was found. The couple did not have any children together and lived in Phoenix with Ndlovu’s niece and another man mentioned as Vipes during the trial.
Khulukazi had moved out of their Phoenix home and was renting accommodation in the area at the time of her disappearance.
Ndlovu, who is facing three charges – murder, kidnapping and malicious damage to property – pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
“You used Vipes to lure your wife to your house. According to the tracker she did arrive at your home before 11:59pm and parked outside your house … The deceased had planned to go back where she lived but was kidnapped outside your gate. The deceased’s car then travelled to Ndwedwe … Surely you must heard something, a struggle or noise as someone was being forced into a car,” said Buthelezi.
Ndlovu said he had been asleep that night and had left his phones in the lounge, which he discovered had been taken by Vipes when he woke up at 5am.
He added that he did not hear anything.
Buthelezi then asked the accused to describe his wife’s and Vipes’s physique to which Ndlovu said Khulukazi was chubby and a little shorter than him while Vipes was slender and tall.
“From how you have described Vipes and your wife, how could he have possibly forced her into the car? He couldn’t have done that alone he was with another person to help. Cellphone records show that your phone was switched off at 9pm and then on again at midnight after the deceased was kidnapped.
“If Vipes had left to go and kidnap your wife why would he take both his cellphone and yours? You were with Vipes when he kidnapped the deceased. You drove with her (to) eMakhukuseni area and parked next to the uMdloti River for about 50 minutes. From there the vehicle drove via the Machobeni area and stopped at a cemetery (in) Molweni and all this time records show that both your phone and Vipes’s were together,” said Buthelezi.
He said from 3am Ndlovu’s car drove to Magangeni area and around 4am it parked outside the gate of his parents’ house.”
After Ndlovu’s cross-examination, his niece took the stand on Thursday, following which the defence rested its case.
On Friday both the defence and the State are to address Judge Mohini Moodley on the merits of the case.
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Daily News