Murder-accused Kidds Beach constable Zandisile Zweni, 44, who stands accused of shooting to death his estranged wife at Voorpos Primary school in Cambridge West on June 22, will now have to spend time in jail with the kind of criminals he used to arrest.
He was yesterday denied bail by East London bail magistrate Joel Cesar.
Zweni, the state has revealed, was caught on camera shooting his wife Andiswa Zweni, 36.
In the dock of a packed gallery Zweni was quiet and looked at the floor throughout.
Tabling his judgement late yesterday, Cesar said it was not in the interest of justice to grant Zweni bail.
“It cannot be in the interest of justice that these gruesome acts are committed by people who are entrusted by ordinary community members to uphold the law,” he said.
Cesar was concerned that the couple’s two minor children, aged 11 and 14 years, would “endure secondary trauma” if their father was released on bail.
His 14-year-old daughter believed that her father had planned to kill the whole family. This was according to the grandmother’s earlier testimony which, Cesar said, could not be ignored.
“We cannot ignore the fact that your 14-year-old daughter is scared of you,” Cesar told Zweni.
“This court believes that the rights of children should weigh more than anyone’s rights.”
Cesar ordered that police minister Bheki Cele and police management should conduct an inquiry as to how Zweni got hold of a state gun, after his service pistol was confiscated from him when his wife obtained a protection order against him in October.
Cesar said: “Despite your wife’s efforts to protect her life by obtaining the protection order, what later transpired was not worth the paper that such order was written on because she ended up dead.
“You killed her while on duty, in police uniform, in public view and in front of staff at the school and parents.”
Last week Zweni admitted to shooting his wife but only remembers the first shot.
“Your submission that you lost control just does not hold water,” said Cesar.
Zweni, was represented by top advocate Solomzi Kalimashe. He will be in court again on July 27.
Murder-accused cop denied bail
Image: via Facebook
Murder-accused Kidds Beach constable Zandisile Zweni, 44, who stands accused of shooting to death his estranged wife at Voorpos Primary school in Cambridge West on June 22, will now have to spend time in jail with the kind of criminals he used to arrest.
He was yesterday denied bail by East London bail magistrate Joel Cesar.
Zweni, the state has revealed, was caught on camera shooting his wife Andiswa Zweni, 36.
In the dock of a packed gallery Zweni was quiet and looked at the floor throughout.
Tabling his judgement late yesterday, Cesar said it was not in the interest of justice to grant Zweni bail.
“It cannot be in the interest of justice that these gruesome acts are committed by people who are entrusted by ordinary community members to uphold the law,” he said.
Cesar was concerned that the couple’s two minor children, aged 11 and 14 years, would “endure secondary trauma” if their father was released on bail.
His 14-year-old daughter believed that her father had planned to kill the whole family. This was according to the grandmother’s earlier testimony which, Cesar said, could not be ignored.
“We cannot ignore the fact that your 14-year-old daughter is scared of you,” Cesar told Zweni.
“This court believes that the rights of children should weigh more than anyone’s rights.”
Cesar ordered that police minister Bheki Cele and police management should conduct an inquiry as to how Zweni got hold of a state gun, after his service pistol was confiscated from him when his wife obtained a protection order against him in October.
Cesar said: “Despite your wife’s efforts to protect her life by obtaining the protection order, what later transpired was not worth the paper that such order was written on because she ended up dead.
“You killed her while on duty, in police uniform, in public view and in front of staff at the school and parents.”
Last week Zweni admitted to shooting his wife but only remembers the first shot.
“Your submission that you lost control just does not hold water,” said Cesar.
Zweni, was represented by top advocate Solomzi Kalimashe. He will be in court again on July 27.
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