A young couple’s apparent plans for marriage were ended dramatically when the would-be groom was killed hours before they were to be joined in matrimony at the local Home Affairs office.
Now, the aspiring bride has been arrested in an investigation into her groom’s death.
The death of the would-be groom, only hours before the couple was due to wed secretly – according to rumours – and the subsequent appearance in court of his fiancee on a charge of murder, has shocked family and friends.
Siphumeze Fayiza Nangu, 25, who is the sister of Buffalo City Metro (BCM) councillor and the ANC’s former Dr WB Rubusana regional treasurer, Ncedo Kumbaca, has been arrested in connection with the murder.
Her arrest came after her fiancé Mkhanyisi “MK” Bana, 36, was stabbed and later died.
They planned a secret marriage on the day of the stabbing, according to sources close to the couple. Kumbaca has also confirmed hearing the rumour.
The couple worked together at the SA Police Services’ provincial headquarters in Zwelitsha.
Bana’s brother, Lwanda, said Bana worked as a personnel officer in the human resources development and training unit at the police offices.
Nangu was an intern in supply chain management.
She was arrested last Friday after Bana, her live-in lover, was stabbed at a flat they shared in Zwelitsha’s Zone 4 outside King William’s Town.
King William’s Town police spokesperson Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said Bana succumbed to his injuries after he was stabbed twice in his upper body, after an alleged quarrel, in the early hours of February 1.
Mawisa on Thursday confirmed that Nangu had appeared at the Zwelitsha magistrate’s court on Monday, in front of reception court magistrate Nokwanda Nkume in connection with a charge of murder.
She will plead when she appears again on February 13 for a formal bail application.
Mawisa said: “It is alleged that there was a fight between the two in the early hours of February 1 which resulted in the suspect stabbing the victim twice in his upper body.
“The victim was immediately rushed to Grey Hospital by neighbours where he later died due to the injuries he sustained,” Mawisa said.
Nangu was a supply chain management intern at the provincial police headquarters between February 2018 until the day before the alleged incident.
It is understood that on February 4, the day she appeared in court, she was supposed to take up a permanent position at the police headquarters.
Sources at the provincial police headquarters told the Dispatch that Nangu had attended a send-off party for the outgoing interns.
The party was apparently held at a popular King William’s Town braai and drinking spot, Man’s Buy & Braai.
“We understand that she came home well after midnight after she had attended the party,” the source said.
Another source said the couple were to get married later that day. “She has been going around telling people that she was going to go to Home Affairs and secretly marry the man of her dreams on February 1,” the source said.
Kumbaca on Thursday confirmed that Nangu was his sister, saying they shared the same mother, but that they had different fathers.
He also confirmed that he had seen his sister wearing an engagement ring, and that “I have heard rumours that she was going to get married to this guy on the 1st of February.
“Maybe she was going to do that privately because as the family we were not aware of such and there were never any traditional processes or negotiations undertaken in preparation for such wedding,” Kumbaca said.
The former BCM infrastructure portfolio head, when asked what caused the quarrel, said: “Maybe we will hear such details when she appears in court next week, but at this moment, I have no comment.”
Lwanda Bana, on Friday said his family was “shattered” and heartbroken by the news of his elder brother’s death.
He said: “We all loved her at home, not only us, but she was loved by the entire extended family as well.”
The couple had been together for nine months and planned to wed. He said his brother had already told his parents and extended family members about this plan.
He did not believe, however, that the couple was to secretly wed on February 1, “because there has been no formal wedding negotiations between the two families”.
Bana was a budding cricket player, a fitness fanatic and a Kasi Vibes Boot Camp instructor in Zwelitsha.
Lwanda said his brother played rural cricket at national level, and was a tug-of-war coach at his workplace.
“As a family and the community, we lost a hero, a fighter, a loving son and brother, who above all was a leader of our close-knit family”.
Bana, who leaves behind both his parents, two sisters and three brothers, will be laid to rest at the Phakamisa sports grounds outside King William’s Town on Saturday...