Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu, [email protected]
The bodies of Nothabo Zandile Khumalo and her two daughters, Natalie and Nala, who were killed at their home in Great Denham, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, on July 3, are expected to arrive in Bulawayo on Saturday, August 1, ahead of a tentative burial on Monday, August 3.
Family sources confirmed the latest developments.
A source familiar with the repatriation process said the post-mortem examination, police investigations and processing of repatriation documents were completed more quickly than initially anticipated.
“The bodies are expected to arrive on Saturday, while the burial is tentatively set for Monday, pending confirmation by the family,” said the source.
Mrs Khumalo was 42, Natalie was 15 and Nala was five.
Their husband and father, Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma (45), a Zimbabwean-born British citizen, was arrested in Kensington, Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 10 in a joint operation involving the South African Police Service and Interpol after leaving the United Kingdom following the killings.
A forensic post-mortem examination conducted in the UK confirmed that all three victims died from blunt force trauma.
The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised three counts of murder against Tshuma, while South African authorities are processing the United Kingdom’s provisional extradition request.
Tshuma has appeared twice before the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on a South African charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. During his second appearance, he abandoned his bail application, and the matter was remanded to August 27 for further investigation and ballistic testing.
The deaths of Mrs Khumalo and her daughters have sent shockwaves through the Zimbabwean community in the United Kingdom and back home, with tributes continuing to pour in from family, friends and community organisations.
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