Fairness Moyana in Hwange
A 23-YEAR-OLD man from Inyathi in Bubi District has been jailed for 20 years for stabbing his elder brother to death following a drunken dispute at their family home.
Qhaphelani Nyoni was convicted of murder by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Bongani Ndlovu,
who was sitting on circuit at Hwange Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The court heard that on December 28 last year, Nyoni stabbed his 31-year-old brother, Nkosilathi
Nyoni, once in the chest with a kitchen knife at their family home in Stone Acre Mine compound.
Prosecuting, Ms Memory Munsaka told the court that the incident started at about 7 pm when Qhaphelani returned home from the shops heavily intoxicated and went into his parents’ bedroom
hut where he took an axe.
He allegedly threatened to cut off the legs of an unidentified person whom he accused of
disrespecting him.
His mother, Ms Simangele Nyoni (61), tried to restrain him but failed as he had become violent.
The deceased, who was also reportedly drunk, intervened and managed to disarm his younger
brother of the axe.
The court heard that a misunderstanding then ensued between the brothers, who continued arguing
near the fireplace.
Ms Nyoni later saw Qhaphelani armed with a kitchen knife before he stabbed Nkosilathi in the
chest.
The victim fell to the ground, crying in pain, as blood flowed from the wound. His younger brother
fled the scene, leaving him seriously injured.
The knife was later found lying next to the victim’s body.
The court also heard from the family’s younger brother, Thumelani Nyoni (21), who said he had
gone into their mother’s bedroom hut to sleep when he heard Nkosilathi screaming that he had
been stabbed.
He rushed outside and found his brother lying on the ground with a deep chest wound while their
mother called for help.
The family sought assistance from neighbours, but Qhaphelani had disappeared.
The court heard that the accused later returned to the scene while his mother was covering the
deceased’s body with a blanket and threatened to finish his brother off.
A report was made to the police attended the scene at about 10.30 PM.
The investigating officer, Constable Keenman Tlou, recovered a blood-stained kitchen knife and
arranged for the body to be taken to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) for a post-mortem
examination. Qhaphelani was arrested three days later while roaming around mines near his home.
