Friends and family of a woman hacked to death with an axe couldn’t contain their excitement when the magistrate refused bail to the man accused of her murder.
Friends and family of a woman hacked to death with an axe couldn’t contain their excitement when the magistrate refused bail to the man accused of her murder.
Shortly after the bail judgment on Tuesday 13 August, community leader Nosigqibo Soxujwa told Grocott’s Mail they were very pleased with the court’s decision.
It would’ve sent the wrong message if the 39-year-old man was granted bail during Women’s Month, she said. "At least during Women’s Month the decision went our way," the fired up leader said.
Magistrate Ronny Lesele said the Vukani man was accused of hitting his girlfriend, Nontsikelelo Mtwisha, on the head several times with an axe. At the beginning of the bail application the state was not opposed to the man’s release, but later opposed the application, Lesele said, a move confirmed by both prosecutor Lungile Msutu and investigating officer Anton Annandale.
The man, a well known member of the community, handed himself over to police after allegedly attacking his 32-year-old girlfriend with an axe and locking her in his Vukani house on Sunday 7 July.
The incident sent shockwaves through the Vukani community as police officers removed Mtwisha’s battered body from the house the couple shared. In handing down his sentence Lesele said the courts are slow to grant bail when there is strong incentive for the accused to evade trial, and there is the strong likelihood of community unrest where the offence was committed, among other factors.
Lesele said the man’s case is characterised more by what he does not address than what he does.
"For instance, there is undisputed evidence that he brutally killed the deceased… by assaulting her several times with an axe, but surprisingly, he does not make any attempt to meet that case by explaining why he did that or what his defence is, if he has any," he said.
Lesele said the only thing notable in his evidence was his occupation and the fact that he has neither previous convictions nor pending cases. T
he magistrate said he had carefully considered all the circumstances contained in the man’s affidavit, as well as testimonies of the witnesses called by the prosecution and the court. "Regrettably, I could not find anything exceptional in the evidence of the applicant," he said.
Lesele said even if the incident took place under exceptional circumstances, the likelihood of disturbed public peace in Vukani meant it would not be in the interest of justice to grant the man bail.
The case was postponed to 30 September for further investigations. He remains in custody.
