Public must now accept Ndudula is not guilty of murder
On Monday, East London high court judge Igna Stretch set Bulelwa Ndudula, who had been on trial for her estranged husband Sakhekile Ndudula’s murder, free. Stretch ruled that Ndudula was not guilty of killing her social development chief of staff husband in 2016, meaning if she did not pull the trigger, his killer or killers are still out there.
As with most trials that involve suspected jealousy, crimes of passion or even love triangles, the Ndudula trial generated a lot of public interest.
To an extent, because of the huge public interest in this high-profile case, the public played judge and jury at the same time – deciding on Ndudula’s perceived innocence or guilt.
Now that the capable judge Stretch has handed down her verdict after carefully listening to the state and the defence make their case, since 2016 – the rest of us must accept the judgment.
The allegations were tested in a court of law and judge Stretch made her ruling based on the evidence that was before her.
There is no denying that just like most couples the Ndudulas had problems in their marriage, as details of abuse and cheating came out during the two-year trial.
The trial, which could make for a Hollywood blockbuster, was not a straightforward open-andshut case as some believed.
But now that judge Stretch has put the matter to bed after the state dismally failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ndudula killed her husband, the police must reopen the docket and start their investigation from the beginning.
Losing a high-profile case is an indictment of the National Prosecuting Authority and the police.
Judge Stretch described prosecutor advocate Sakhumzi Mtsila’s submission of the ballistic evidence that was “withheld” from the court as “frivolous, vexatious and irresponsible”.
Part of judge Stretch’s judgment read: “The duty of the prosecution is to seek justice, not to blindly and purposely plunder after a conviction at all costs”.
We can only hope that since the evidence was tested in open court, all involved will be able to move on. Society, especially armchair critics, should not judge Ndudula as she has been found innocent of murder.
The duty of the prosecution is to seek justice, not to blindly, purposely plunder after a conviction