An accused in a murder case was recently sentenced by the Ezakheni Regional Court to 15 years’ imprisonment.
On July 27 last year, Sipho Moses Hlongwane (43) was at his house in the Magangangozi area of Bergville with his fiancée. They were later joined by a neighbour, 31-year-old Khawulani Zikode, and the three sat awhile and had drinks.
At about 7.30pm, Mr Hlongwane asked his neighbour to leave, as he and his fiancée wanted to retire for the night. The neighbour, Zikode, refused to leave, saying he believed he had a right to stay at the house.
After several requests for him to leave, Mr Hlongwane was finally forced to physically remove the neighbour from his home. Zikode left the property and Mr Hlongwane and his fiancée went to sleep. A short while later, Zikode returned with a knife and sought out Mr Hlongwane.
He stabbed Mr Hlongwane twice in the chest and then left the property again. Mr Hlongwane made his way back to his bed, where his fiancée noticed he was bleeding. An ambulance was called, but Mr Hlongwane died of his injuries.
Bergville police were called to the scene and that same night, Zikode was arrested for the murder.
During the investigation, it came to light that the motive for the stabbing was that Zikode was secretly in love with Mr Hlongwane’s fiancée. The couple had evidently been unaware of this until that fateful night.
Zikode was convicted on August 15 this year of murder and was sentenced on Tuesday, September 16, to 15 years behind bars. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The case was investigated by Bergville detective, Sergeant Phele Ngcobo.
