Mom’s pain as son’s killer begs for mercy

ONE of the two men convicted of beheading two people, begged a Pietermaritzburg High Court judge yesterday to have mercy on him.

Thandokwakhe Duma, 21, and Ellias Sihle Mchunu, 41, were convicted on Monday of the murders of uMzinto cricketer Nawaaz Khan and Bawinile Gambushe in October 2015.

They were expected to be sentenced yesterday, but Duma took the witness stand in mitigation of sentence and pleaded with the court for leniency.

Duma, who was Khan’s friend, told the court he knew Khan was going to be killed when he took him to a plantation in Isonti on the KwaZuluNatal South Coast.

He told the court that he and Mchunu had hatched a plan to behead Khan and use his body parts for muti.

Duma admitted to not being entirely honest with the court and pleaded for leniency when Judge Rishi Seegobin passed sentence.

His last-minute admission was painful for Khan’s family.

Zakia Khan, Nawaaz Khan’s mother, who had attended the entire trial, said the plea for leniency by a man who claimed to be her son’s friend had caused her heartbreak.

Late

“It is a bit too late for him to speak the truth. He had chosen to lie to me and the court all along,” said Zakia.

Khan, 23, had left home on October 31, 2015, to meet friends, but never returned. He had worked as a conductor for a long-distance trucking company.

Duma and Mchunu lured Khan to the forest near Isonti. They attacked him with an axe and beheaded him.

They also robbed Khan of two cellphones and shoes, which they sold.

Zakia said Duma lied to her when she desperately wanted to know her son’s whereabouts.

“I pleaded with him to help me find my son. I attended the court case hoping to find answers. I am hurt and do not know how I am going to continue living without my Nawaaz,” she said.

Mchunu was also found guilty of beheading Gambushe, who was also killed for her body parts.

Zakia said she hoped the court would sentence her son’s killers to life in prison when sentence was finally handed down today.

“My wish is for both of them to be removed from society and be placed in jail where they belong,” she said.