A young Qumbu killer smiled as he was led to prison to serve life behind bars for killing his elderly aunt and 11-year-old cousin whom he had accused of witchcraft.
Mthatha High Court judge Mbulelo Jolwana on Monday sentenced 25-year-old Abenathi Mavumengwana to two life terms for hacking to death his aunt Nolindile Elsie Dlala-Mavumengwana, 66, and her granddaughter, Amanda Mavumengwana. The attack occured at Buhlungwana village, of the Mbalisweni administrative area in Qumbu on October 3 2017.
“The motive for the murder of [Dlala-Mavumengwana] was that she was suspected of having bewitched the aunt of the accused. [Amanda] was killed because she knew him and saw him killing [Dlala-Mavumengwana] and would have given material evidence at criminal proceedings for the murder of [Dlala-Mavumengwana,” the judge said.
He said that despite the accused smoking drugs before the attack, he knew clearly what he was going to do and was sober when planning the killings.
“The murders were premeditated, with the accused having properly armed himself with a bush-knife to ensure that the deceased died. Indeed, they died a painful death and their killing was executed with extreme viciousness and merciless brutality. Large deep wounds and pools and splatters of blood display a gruesome testimony to the callousness with which the murders were committed. The victims were both vulnerable members of the society,'' said Jolwana.
Mavumengwana was arrested together with his cousin, Sinethemba Mavumengwana, 24, but Sinethemba was later acquitted due to insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
Following the attack, Dlala-Mavumengwana’s daughter-in-law Nosisa returned to her home village while the deceased woman’s son, Siyabonga, also left to live with relatives. Jolwana said the killer expressed no sense of remorse.
“The brutality and the gruesomeness of these murders has not moved the accused at all. In my view, a departure from the prescribed minimum sentences would in itself be an injustice of such a magnitude as to undermine the whole criminal justice system,” he said, as he imposed two life sentences for the double murder. He ordered that the sentences run concurrently...