A school teacher and the daughter of a prominent Eastern Cape bishop facing charges of murdering her husband told the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court that she needed bail to take care of their 10-year old epileptic daughter.
Noluthando Baleni, 46, said her daughter suffered from Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the shin bone that causes the lower leg to angle inward.
If she was missing from her teaching post for 14 days she could be fired, she added.
Baleni and her father, Reverend Mandlenkosi Oliver Mgutyana, 68 – the African Gospel Church’s Western Transkei district head – and Bonga Skolpati, 22, are charged with the premeditated murder of Kholisile Baleni, the deputy principal of a Coffee Bay secondary school.
Baleni and her father on Friday beefed up their defence team by hiring advocate Philip Zilwa, who fought hard for them to be granted bail.
Baleni told the court her daughter needed “constant surveillance” as she could not cope alone.
“Also, if 14 days lapses without me at school that is going to be straight dismissal as it will be deemed I have absconded. I will lose everything,” she said.
Baleni claimed if she was fired she would not be able to her daughter to a specialist doctor for her monthly appointments, buy her daughter’s expensive medication, pay for her schooling or feed and clothe her.
“I will lose my home for which I am still paying. My children will not have a home. I am the sole breadwinner,” said Baleni, who has been in custody since February 17.
She has four children aged 23, 20, 15 and 10. The two older children attend school in Pietermaritzburg while the younger ones live with her in Mthatha.
Baleni, a teacher at Thandokazi Senior Primary School in Qunu, told the court that her net salary was about R10500. If fired her children would not only suffer but be denied an education.
She was asthmatic and the attacks could be life threatening, she added.
She denied involvement in the murder of her husband.
“I will plead not guilty when the trial starts. I never killed my husband. Anyone implicating me in his murder would be telling lies,” she said.
The case has drawn much public interest, especially in religious and education circles.
The Dispatch understands that Baleni is a staunch member of her father’s church while her husband was a senior member in the Methodist Church.
The body of Kholisile Baleni, 49, was found riddled with bullets inside his minibus on the border of Viedgesville and Maqhingeni villages in Mthatha on the morning of October 28. According to his siblings, this was the day the couple were to start their divorce proceedings in court.
The hearing was postponed to Wednesday and the trio were remanded in custody. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Slain principal’s widow seeks bail
Noluthando Baleni, 46, said her daughter suffered from Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the shin bone that causes the lower leg to angle inward.
If she was missing from her teaching post for 14 days she could be fired, she added.
Baleni and her father, Reverend Mandlenkosi Oliver Mgutyana, 68 – the African Gospel Church’s Western Transkei district head – and Bonga Skolpati, 22, are charged with the premeditated murder of Kholisile Baleni, the deputy principal of a Coffee Bay secondary school.
Baleni and her father on Friday beefed up their defence team by hiring advocate Philip Zilwa, who fought hard for them to be granted bail.
Baleni told the court her daughter needed “constant surveillance” as she could not cope alone.
“Also, if 14 days lapses without me at school that is going to be straight dismissal as it will be deemed I have absconded. I will lose everything,” she said.
Baleni claimed if she was fired she would not be able to her daughter to a specialist doctor for her monthly appointments, buy her daughter’s expensive medication, pay for her schooling or feed and clothe her.
“I will lose my home for which I am still paying. My children will not have a home. I am the sole breadwinner,” said Baleni, who has been in custody since February 17.
She has four children aged 23, 20, 15 and 10. The two older children attend school in Pietermaritzburg while the younger ones live with her in Mthatha.
Baleni, a teacher at Thandokazi Senior Primary School in Qunu, told the court that her net salary was about R10500. If fired her children would not only suffer but be denied an education.
She was asthmatic and the attacks could be life threatening, she added.
She denied involvement in the murder of her husband.
“I will plead not guilty when the trial starts. I never killed my husband. Anyone implicating me in his murder would be telling lies,” she said.
The case has drawn much public interest, especially in religious and education circles.
The Dispatch understands that Baleni is a staunch member of her father’s church while her husband was a senior member in the Methodist Church.
The body of Kholisile Baleni, 49, was found riddled with bullets inside his minibus on the border of Viedgesville and Maqhingeni villages in Mthatha on the morning of October 28. According to his siblings, this was the day the couple were to start their divorce proceedings in court.
The hearing was postponed to Wednesday and the trio were remanded in custody. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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