Online Reporter
Fairness Moyana in Hwange
A Bulawayo man, who fled to South Africa after fatally stabbing two villagers during a violent Christmas night brawl more than a decade ago, has been jailed for 25 years by the High Court sitting in Hwange.
Joseph Vusumuzi Moyo (39) of Cowdray Park, Bulawayo, was last week convicted on two counts of murdering Smart Mpofu (40) and Jabulani Mpofu (25), both of Sikhobokhobo area in Nkayi, after a chilling knife attack on 25 December 2011.
Justice Bongani Ndlovu, presiding over the third term of the High Court circuit at Hwange Magistrates’ Courts, found Moyo guilty on both counts and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment on each count, with 15 years of the second sentence to run concurrently — effectively jailing him for 25 years.
Mrs Martha Cheda appeared for the State.
According to court records, the two now deceased men were walking home from Christmas celebrations at Sikhobokhobo Business Centre around 10pm, in the company of a friend, Melusi Mpofu, when they were ambushed near Sotopu Stream by Moyo and three accomplices — Danisa Moyo, Bhekimpilo Maya alias Mingel Ncube and another still unidentified man.
The court heard that the assailants emerged from the bush armed with knives and launched a brutal attack. Jabulani Mpofu was stabbed multiple times on the back, while Smart Mpofu was stabbed twice in the chest and once under the chin with the knife blade breaking off and remaining lodged in his jaw.
Both victims succumbed to their injuries within two days, one on 26 December and the other on 27 December, 2011.
Police later recovered blood-stained clothing linked to one of Moyo’s accomplices from his father’s homestead.
After the killings, Moyo fled to South Africa, where he remained at large for nearly 13 years. His luck ran out when he was arrested upon his return to Zimbabwe on 23 July 2024, leading to his long-delayed trial.
In delivering judgment, Justice Ndlovu condemned Moyo’s conduct as “cold-blooded and senseless violence carried out in the dead of night,” saying he showed no regard for human life.
The judge also dismissed Moyo’s claim of mistaken identity, noting that witnesses’ testimony and forensic evidence firmly placed him at the scene.
Moyo’s application for leave to appeal against both conviction and sentence was denied, bringing closure to a case that has haunted the Nkayi community for over a decade.
