Family laments delays in trial of ‘killer husband’
Relative says three-year wait has been emotionally taxing
A family of a Boksburg woman who was strangled allegedly by her husband in 2019 says the three-year wait for the trial to commence has been long and emotionally draining.
This comes after the trial of Prudence Mphahlele’s husband Mzandile Mike Mphahlele, which was expected to start yesterday, was delayed by another day.
Prudence’s naked body was found in a bath tub full of water in their home on the East Rand on November 17 2019.
Mphahlele made a brief appearance in the Boksburg magistrate’s court yesterday on a charge of murder.
The trial was postponed to today. The postponement comes after another delay in July.
State prosecutor Maria Fyfe told the court there were many other matters on the roll that needed to be attended to.
“I do believe we will be able to commence with trial tomorrow,” she said.
It is alleged that Mzwandile claimed that his wife drowned, but postmoterm results indicated that she had died from strangulation.
Prudence’s sister Busisiwe Radebe, who is now raising her sister’s two children whom she had with the accused, said they have waited for long for the trial to start.
“It has been a long and painful journey for us because of the manner in which we lost Prudence. Everything has been standing still and I feel it’s very unfair to us. There have been too many postponements.
“The painful part is that there are two little kids that I am raising. It is emotionally and financially draining. I am the only one in the family that is left, so I must make sure that they eat, their school fees are paid and that they are dressed,” Radebe said.
She said the children, aged 11 and 20, have been badly affected by their mother’s death and are undergoing counselling.
Radebe said she was worried about the youngest one, who was in the house when his mother was “murdered.”
As the family waited for justice, their mother Elizabeth Radebe and uncle Nkosana Tshabalala, who were state witnesses in the case, died after contracting Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Radeba said this added to the family’s anguish and reduced the number of state witnesses to three.
“So, as this case is prolonged, we get worried that we will lose more witnesses.
“We don’t want to lose more witnesses because it will strengthen his case and we don’t want that.”
Radebe said her sister had been in an abusive marriage for 10 years.
Prudence, who held a senior position at Eskom, was planning to file for a divorce and was set to move out of their home before her death.
“We want justice for my sister.”
Outside court, a group of activists from People Opposing Women Abuse staged a protest, calling for justice to be served.