A man who killed his workmate by striking him twice on the head with an axe and spent two nights sleeping with the corpse in his room has been jailed for eight years.
Butholezwe Ndlovu (31), who worked at a mine in Hope Fountain, Bulawayo, got into a heated argument with Khumbulani Sibanda (20) before the confrontation turned deadly.
Sibanda collapsed and bled to death after Ndlovu struck him with an axe.
Instead of making a report to the police, Ndlovu dragged the body into his room and slept next to the corpse for two nights until worried workmates discovered the gruesome scene.
Sibanda had failed to report for duty, prompting his colleagues and supervisors to search for him.
They eventually found his body at Ndlovu’s residence and alerted the police.
During questioning by Bulawayo homicide detectives, Ndlovu confessed to killing Sibanda, saying he had kept the body out of fear of arrest.
Ndlovu appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Naison Chivayo facing murder charges but was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to an effective eight years in prison.
In passing the sentence, Justice Chivayo condemned the growing violence in mining areas, stating, “People are turning mining areas into battlefields, yet it is supposed to be an economic hub that uplifts the economy.”
He added: “Some of the wayward youths are not taking life seriously as they kill willy-nilly. A life was lost yet the offender is still alive.” — Bulawayo Bureau
