Airport Valley man found guilty of murdering girlfriend

The Gqeberha high court found an Airport Valley man’s version of events to be so farfetched it was wholly rejected before he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend.

Passing down judgment yesterday, judge Bulelwa Pakati said Luxolo Bandla’s evidence was a fabrication which had to be rejected as false.

During his trial, Bandla, 30, who initially pleaded not guilty to murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, concocted a story of how Ntomnoloxo Mkhosana had allegedly stabbed herself during a drunken brawl between the couple on June 19 2022.

According to Bandla’s evidence, Mkhosana had first attacked him by slapping him across the face with an open hand before grabbing a large kitchen knife with the intent of stabbing him.

They had allegedly been arguing after Mkhosana found text messages on his cellphone from another woman.

Bandla said he had tried to stop Mkhosana from stabbing him and in the process, she stabbed herself.

In analysing the evidence before the court, Pakati said testimony by a forensic pathologist showed that there was no way Mkhosana could have stabbed herself with such force that the blade of the knife broke off and was later found inside her abdominal cavity.

Labelling Bandla as a bad witness who was evasive and gave long-winded and unnecessary explanations, Pakati said he had failed dismally to explain how his life was in danger, prompting him to stab his girlfriend of three years.

Pakati said the state’s sole witness to the murder, Busisiwe

Dlwati, was credible and reliable.

Dlwati, from whom Bandla and Mkhosana had rented a room in the Airport Valley informal settlement, had told the court during the trial that she had gone to check on the couple twice on the night of the murder after she heard them fighting.

According to Dlwati’s evidence, the first time she went to see what was happening, she saw Bandla holding a padlock in his hand.

The second time she went, when she heard Mkhosana shouting that Bandla was stabbing her, she saw Bandla with the handle of a knife in his hand.

Dlwati said she had told Bandla to call an ambulance when she saw Mkhosana was bleeding profusely, but instead he picked her up, carried her outside and left her on the side of the street.

When paramedics arrived, they pronounced Mkhosana dead.

Bandla, who was allegedly assaulted by community members, was arrested the same day. Sentencing proceedings are expected to get under way today.