Fidelis Munyoro-Chief Court Reporter
Two men, who teamed up to brutally assault a defenceless, drunken man with a machete and metal bar, leaving him unconscious behind a toilet before abandoning him to die, have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the High Court in Bulawayo.
Justice Feresi Chakanyuka handed down the verdict against Thembinkosi Moyo, 28, and Bhekumuzi Dube, 27, ruling that the pair had acted with a common purpose and deliberately continued their violent assault despite appreciating that their actions could result in death.
The judge rejected their claims that they had acted in self-defence, describing the deceased as a defenceless drunken man, who posed no imminent threat.
“They merely attacked a defenceless drunken man,” Justice Chakanyuka observed.
The two were convicted of murder with constructive intent following a violent incident at Moyo’s homestead in the Fort Rixon area on October 14, 2025.
The court heard that the tragedy began at Dlodlo Monument Tuckshop, where the deceased, Norman Mashame, had been drinking beer with his son, Tinotenda Mpofu, and other patrons.
After his son left for home, Mashame left the tuckshop in the company of the two accused and Tonderai Moyo.
But what began as a journey from a drinking place ended in a deadly attack. According to the State’s evidence, as the group entered Moyo’s homestead, the first accused declared that he did not want Mashame at his residence.
Dube allegedly picked up a brick and threw it at Mashame, missing him, and then started kicking him. When Mashame staggered and fell near the toilet, Moyo allegedly armed himself with a metal bar and repeatedly struck him on the lower body.
The violence escalated when Dube went into the house and emerged with a machete. The two then allegedly joined forces, striking Mashame on the head, shoulders, arm and forehead.
They left him lying helplessly behind the toilet. Mashame’s son later discovered him unconscious, his body bearing multiple injuries. He secured a scotch cart and ferried his father home, but the injuries proved fatal.
In rejecting the accused persons’ version of events, Justice Chakanyuka placed considerable weight on the testimony of Tonderai Moyo, an accomplice witness who had initially been jointly charged before the State withdrew the charges against him.
His evidence was corroborated by other witnesses whose statements were admitted into the record by consent.
The judge found that the evidence consistently placed Mashame in the company of the accused when they left the tuckshop, effectively dismantling their claim that the deceased had arrived at the homestead later and attacked them.
“Their version is therefore inconsistent with the evidence presented by the State and cannot reasonably be accepted,” the judge ruled.
The court also dismissed the argument that alcohol had impaired the accused persons’ capacity to form the necessary intention for murder.
Justice Chakanyuka pointed to Dube’s decision to retrieve the machete and subsequently hand it to Albert Mwale for safekeeping as evidence of purposeful conduct.
The judge found that neither accused had demonstrated that intoxication deprived them of the capacity to appreciate the consequences of their actions.
On the question of intention, the court concluded that repeatedly attacking a person with a machete and metal bar, particularly on different parts of the body, demonstrated an appreciation of the real possibility of death.
The court further found that the two had acted in furtherance of a common purpose, making it immaterial which accused inflicted the particular injury that ultimately caused Mashame’s death.
In sentencing, the court considered their status as first offenders, their family responsibilities and the fact that they had spent approximately a year in pre-trial detention.
Both men claimed remorse and told the court that attempts had been made to compensate the deceased’s family for the cleansing process, but these efforts had reportedly met resistance.
However, these considerations were outweighed by the brutality of the attack, the use of dangerous weapons and the failure by the accused to assist their victim after the assault.
The court heard that Mashame’s widow, Senzeni Moyo, was left to raise their two minor children alone. The family reportedly suffered financially, and the children subsequently dropped out of school.
Justice Chakanyuka stressed the sanctity of human life, invoking the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The judge emphasised that the sentence had to deter others from resorting to violence to settle disputes.
