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Mathew Masinge
A MAN killed his brother after a misunderstanding over which relish to prepare for supper in July 2020.
Nkululeko Mabhena was arrested after it was also established that he tied a rope around his deceased brother’s neck, loaded the body in a wheelbarrow and dumped it on the roadside.
Nkululeko wanted to have dried meat while his brother preferred okra.
He has been denying the murder during the three-and-a-half years he spent in remand prison.
Nkululeko entered a limited plea of culpable homicide and was granted US$100 bail, which he had also failed to raise, during the same period.
The State did not accept his limited plea for a lesser charge.
The court heard that the two were staying together and following the misunderstanding, Nkululeko took a knife and stabbed his brother on the chest leading to his death.
Nkululeko claimed he was defending himself from his brother’s aggression after he threatened him with an axe handle.
High Court judge, Justice Evangelista Kabasa, said although Nkululeko pleaded self-defence, the knife found its way into his brother’s chest lacerating his left lung and liver.
“Nkululeko had been slapped, granted the now deceased was holding the axe handle, but to plunge a knife into the chest with such force exceeded the bounds of self-defence.
“The accused must have appreciated this and that is why he was in pain to explain the stabbing.
“He initially made it as if he did not intentionally stab the deceased, but the knife just somehow found its way into the now deceased’s chest.
“However, he ultimately did acknowledge that he stabbed the now deceased and not that it was accidental,” reads Justice Kabasa’s finding.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu