Life sentence for lovers

THE duo accused of killing acting Inkosi Mzomuhle Zondi (23) were on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

Zondi was fatally shot at his Nkandla homestead on 10 November 2021.

The accused, Khethiwe Zondi (52) and Celimpilo Shabangu (62), were arrested in Msinga a month after the murder, where they were hiding. A hitman known as Mkhize is still at large.

The court heard that before the incident, Khethiwe was married to the late Inkosi Zondi, and they lived in the Mpotholo area.

After he died of natural causes, Khethiwe was appointed as regent for the Zondi clan.

However, Khethiwe was in a romantic relationship with her co-accused, Shabangu, who she appointed as an Induna.

Owing to this improper behaviour, close royal family members consulted with the Department of Co-operative

Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), and she was removed from the position of acting regent.

Her late husband's son, the now deceased Mzomuhle Zondi, was appointed as the new regent.

This angered Khethiwe and Shabangu, and they conspired to kill the young Inkosi, enlisting the assistance of a hitman known as ‘Mkhize’.

On the night of the incident, they went to one of the buildings in the royal house where they shot and killed Mzomuhle.

In court, State Advocate Dan Magwaza led circumstantial evidence as well as the account of an eyewitness.

Upon her arrest, Khethiwe had made a confession, which she later retracted. Following a trial within a trial, the confession was admitted in court as evidence.

In furtherance of the State’s case, Magwaza handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by one of the family members and facilitated by court preparation officer Mandisa Sikakane.