Durban — Even though dates were set last year for the trial against two women and a teenager accused of kidnapping and murdering a Newlands East mom and her child, it did not go ahead in the Durban High Court.
In October, after a pre-trial conference, the matter was declared trial-ready by Acting Judge S Khan and it was set to be heard from Tuesday until May 12.
The three are charged with the murder of Smangele Simamane and her daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu, 12.
On April 17, when the trio appear in court again, it would be decided when it would sit. The court could not begin with the trial as it was occupied with another ongoing matter before Judge Graham Lopes.
In October 2020, a passer-by discovered the bodies of Simamane and her child which had been bundled into a large suitcase that was left on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka.
The following year in April, Zamisa’s lover Nicholas Sithembiso Lamula handed himself over to the SAPS and confessed to his part in the alleged murders.
He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court after having pleaded guilty a month after handing himself over to police.
In June 2021, Zamisa and her daughter, who had fled the area and were being sought by police, were arrested.
They were both arrested on the same day but in different places, KwaDukuza and Johannesburg.
The two, who were aged 23 and 41 at the time of the alleged murders, were refused bail in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court two months following their arrest.
At the time they were appearing alongside co-accused Nomfundo Ngcobo, who is Zamisa’s stepdaughter, who abandoned her bail application.
The teen accused who was 13 at the time, made her first appearance in court along with the two women and was released into the care of a guardian.
Last year in April, Ngcobo pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
According to their plea, the mom and daughter were allegedly lured to a house in Durban by Zamisa, accusing Simamane of being part of a group of people who were responsible for the death of Ngcobo’s father through witchcraft.
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Daily News