Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku
“YOUR worship, it’s a double blow for me. I had only two children. One is dead and this one will languish in jail. I beg this honourable court to reduce the years for him so that he will find me alive and help me at home,” pleaded heartbroken Fredrick Shumba in the Bulawayo High Court.
But his emotional appeal fell on deaf ears.
This came after his son, Nduva Shumba, was convicted of murder and slapped with a 15-year jail sentence for brutally killing his younger brother, Wayne, in a violent row over isitshwala.
The court heard that on 17 July 2024 at their family home in Mberengwa, Nduva was sitting around the fire with Wayne and two neighbours. Nduva told Wayne to cook isitshwala for the family, but Wayne refused. That triggered a misunderstanding. Wayne then hit Nduva on the shoulder with a stone and ran off.
Nduva gave chase, caught up with his brother, stoned him in the head, and then attacked him with a shovel. Wayne collapsed, bleeding heavily from the head, and died on the spot.
Nduva was arrested and hauled before Justice Ngoni Nduna where he pleaded not guilty, claiming he acted in self-defence.
He insisted Wayne was the aggressor who wanted to stone him to death.
But the judge was not convinced. The evidence was overwhelming and the court found Nduva guilty of murder.
Fredrick’s courtroom plea for leniency was not entertained.
Now the Shumba family is torn apart. One son buried. The other behind bars. All over a pot of isitshwala.
derick.khumalo