Two gets jail for slitting friend’s throat, breaking his legs so he’d fit in duvet cover

Two Eastern Cape men were sentenced to 15 years behind bars for stabbing their friend with nail clippers, slitting his throat and breaking his legs so his body would fit in a duvet cover.

In what Magistrate Pumla Sibiya termed one of the most gruesome murders to have occurred in Port Elizabeth, Andile Mpindyana, 23, and Xhanti Sizani, 26, were on Tuesday sentenced for the murder of Andile Jonathan Mbambani in January 2018.

According to Anelisa Ngcakani, regional spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Port Elizabeth Regional Court heard that Mpindyana, Sizani and Mbambani were friends and committed a robbery together prior to the evening of the murder. The court was further told that Mbambani hid the spoils of the robbery from the other two.

On 29 January 2018, Mpindyana, Sizani and an unidentified man, who died before the other two were arrested, went to Mbambani’s home.

“They found him enjoying a quiet evening with his girlfriend. They pointed firearms at both of them, assaulted [Mbambani], stabbed him with nail clippers and slit his throat with a knife.

Jumped on his legs to break it

“They then tried to stuff his body into a duvet but it could not fit. Then the three jumped on his legs [and] broke them so that [his] body could fit,” Ngcakani said.

Mbambani’s body was then rolled up into a bundle and placed behind one of the doors in the house. His girlfriend managed to escape and reported the matter to members of the community. The police found Mbambani’s body.

KwaDwesi police arrested Mpindyana and Sizani in February 2018.

The court further sentenced Mpindyana and Sizani to 10 years’ imprisonment each for kidnapping because they held Mbambani and his girlfriend against their will.

Sibiya also sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment for pointing a firearm. She ordered that the sentences run concurrently with the murder sentence.

State prosecutor advocate Benedict Wilson told the court this was one of the most gruesome murders he had ever prosecuted.

“It has left a permanent scar in the mind of the witness. The community needs to be protected from such criminals. The community looks towards the courts to send out a clear message that these violent crimes will not be tolerated,” he said.

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