State wants more than 15 years
intent to do grievous bodily harm, in August 2006.
Among the reasons for the request for leniency, Fourie pointed out that more than a decade had passed between this and Wednesday’s judgement, making the previous convictions all but immaterial.
He further pointed out that there was no direct evidence of what had transpired on the evening of the victim’s death and that the deceased had a history of becoming confrontational when drinking.
“The deceased was under the influence that night and we have evidence that when she was under the influence, she used to swear and displayed offensive behaviour,” Fourie said. “I submit that this behaviour provoked the accused to some extent.
“The court has found that there was a heated argument between the accused and the deceased.”
Referring to a letter, written by the deceased’s 13-year-old daughter, which described the emotional impact of her mother’s murder on her, Fourie said that it did not appear as if there was a history of violence between the husband and wife.
“Looking at the translated let- ter, she blames the accused for what happened on the night and not what happened previously. This indicates that there was no history of violence.”
With regard to whether Nqozi intended to kill his wife, the court found that the form of intent was dolus eventualis, meaning that while the accused is responsible for the foreseeable consequences of his actions, the murder was not premeditated.
However, the State disagreed and felt that the prescribed minimum was insufficient for the offence committed.
State Advocate Joyleen Mabaso said that this was a serious offence, committed by a person with previous convictions for violent crimes.
“The four previous convictions may all have taken place more than 10 years ago but two of them (assault and assault GBH) are relevant,” the prosecutor said.
“The accused took the children’s mother away from them and showed no respect for the deceased. He killed her and then hid her body.
“The aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances.
“He assaulted her on more than one occasion. Upon her death, he placed her body in a bag and went to bury it. Then he mislead the police and the community about her whereabouts. He shows no remorse and has tried to blame everyone else.”