Son sent for observation

Former SABC board member Hope Zinde was so afraid of her son, Mark, pictured, that she wanted to have him involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution for treatment, the High Court in Pretoria has heard.

Zinde’s sister, Desiree, on Thursday successfully applied to have her nephew referred for further mental observation to determine if he suffered from any mental illness, could contribute to legal proceedings and had been able to distinguish between right and wrong and to act accordingly at the time of the incidents.

He is accused of murdering his mother in June last year and attempting to murder his father, Dr Lebohang Manote, while out on bail a few months later.

His aunt described in an affidavit how she had seen her nephew changing from a vibrant, happy headboy to a withdrawn recluse, who refused to eat his mother’s food or to come out of his room.

She said her sister was temperamental and pushed her son to succeed, but she was also very private and they only realised after her death that she was suffering from depression and was hiding her greatest challenges from them.

Her sister had been suspended from her work at Passenger Rail Agency of SA without pay, had been removed as an SABC board member, had lost money in business ventures and had no source of income at the time of her death.

After her sister’s death, they discovered a letter from a psychiatrist indicating that her nephew had been hospitalised in 2014 for depression with psychotic features, but stopped his medication and had a relapse in April 2016.

The letter said Hope Zinde had complained that her son locked himself in his room, was not sleeping or eating and was very aggressive and violent when she tried to help him. She felt he was a danger to himself and other people, including her, and needed admission to a mental institution as an involuntary patient.

Zinde said her sister had asked Mark’s father, a medical doctor, on numerous occasions to help her without success.

She said it was clear to her from his outbursts in court and his bizarre and strange behaviour in prison that his mental state was continuing to deteriorate and that he urgently needed help.

The trial was provisionally postponed to August 29.