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MBABANE – Nine years later, after he was charged for killing his girlfriend, a man of Lobamba has been convicted of murder.

Sizwe Cyril Magongo of Lobamba killed his girlfriend, Ncobile Motsa, by stabbing her twice with a bread knife after accusing her of infidelity.

The convict committed the offence on January 16, 2013.

Yesterday, the court did not only convict him but also terminated his bail.

Magongo was convicted by Judge John Magagula, who found that he had an intention to kill Motsa as after having stabbed her, he was heard by some of the witnesses saying ‘ungamane ufe mani’ (you would rather die).

In his judgment, Judge Magagula pointed out that in the case of murder, intention could take various forms.

He said it could take the form of dolus directus, dolus indirectus , dolus eventualis and dolus indeterminatus.

The judge said in cases of dolus eventualis, the offender does not determine to kill the deceased but foresees the possibility of the victim dying as a consequence of his action but continues with it.

He also highlighted that in the case of dolus directus, the offender determines to kill the deceased.

Blow

“In the present matter, the words ‘ungamane ufe mani’ uttered by the accused as he landed the second blow on the person of the deceased suggest that his intention at least at this point in moment was that the deceased should die,” said Judge Magagula.

The court further found that Magongo intended that the result of stabbing his girlfriend would result in her death. Judge Magagula said it was clear that Magongo had an intention in the form of dolus directus.

“In any event apart from his utterances, the actions of the accused in inflicting two stab wounds on a delicate part of her body and leaving her for dead cannot lead to any other conclusion save that his intention was that the deceased should die,” reads part of the judgment.

The accused is expected to mitigate before the court sentences him.

Meanwhile, upon arraignment, Magongo had pleaded not guilty to the charge and to prove its case, the Crown paraded seven witnesses.

Through the evidence of two Crown witnesses, Zephaniah Zwane and Lungile Dudu Masilela, that in the morning of January 16, 2013, Magongo and Motsa (deceased) were seen entering their rented flat at a Sibiya homestead in Fairview North in Manzini.

The court heard that soon after they (Magongo and Motsa) had entered their flat, a quarrel ensued between them.

Quarrel

Upon hearing the noise of the quarrel, the witnesses told the court that they went to the flat of the two to establish what the quarrel was about.

According to the witnesses, Magongo, however, told them that they were not fighting but they were just trying to resolve a minor misunderstanding.

The witnesses said they then tried to reason with the couple to stop the noise as other tenants were being disturbed. They told the court that after having warned the couple to desist from making noise, they then left them inside the flat.

It was further their evidence that, after some 20 to 30 minutes after they had left Magongo and Motsa, they heard screams coming from the flat.

The court heard that, when the two witnesses went to ascertain what was happening, they saw Motsa falling at the door with her head protruding outside.

According to the witnesses, blood was oozing from hear mouth and ears.

One of the witnesses told the court that he actually saw Magongo stabbing Motsa in the back while she was lying on the ground. Magongo is said to have then ran away with the weapon he had used to stab Motsa. The court was told that the weapon looked like a breadknife.

The Crown was represented by Nomkhosi Dlamini from the chamber of the director of public prosecutions (DPP).