Durban - A domestic worker who allegedly got her boyfriend and another man to kill her boss - at his son’s request - on Monday denied any involvement in the murder during her opposed bail application in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court.
Emily Mchunu, who claims to be a sangoma, said the first time she heard the murder allegations was in court.
She appeared along with Joshua Nxumalo, her alleged boyfriend, who abandoned his bail application.
Both are charged with killing Ashraf Goolam Mohideen, who owned Lee’s Auto Sales. He was killed at his Scottsville home on February 25.
His son, Jibraeel Mohideen, 26, had pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, while Zandisile Mtshali, the other killer, who assisted in stabbing Mohideen sr to death, was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
Mohideen said in his guilty plea that the final straw that led him to have his father killed was a disagreement they had in January about his wife, who was not a Muslim.
The father had disapproved of the marriage and she had lived with her parents, while Mohideen had lived with with his father and mentally disabled twin sister.
He said Mchunu had heard the argument and asked him about it. He had remarked that it would be better if he did not have a father, whereafter she had said she could arrange for someone to kill him.
She had enlisted the help of Nxumalo, who agreed to kill his father for R30 000, to be paid in instalments.
On the day of the murder, Mohideen jr met Nxumalo and Mtshali for the first time. Later that day he got a message telling him that his father had been stabbed to death.
A few days later, he gave the domestic worker R10 000 for Nxumalo. But then, overcome by guilt, he confessed to the family what he had done.
Mchunu told the court on Monday that she had a husband, three children and two grandchildren. She supported them with the R2 500 she made as a domestic worker and R4 000 as a sangoma. She said she was also training four students to become traditional healers.
She needed to get bail so she could continue with the training. She did not know the witnesses, and therefore would not be able to intimidate or harass them.
Sergeant Sandile Magubane, the investigating officer, said in an affidavit that Mchunu and the others had worked together to achieve “an evil outcome”.
Magubane said Mchunu had not been paid and had a score to settle with Mohideen sr, which she denied.
Magubane added that Mchunu had let the killers into the house the day before and on the day of the murder. Mohideen jr had drugged his sister so she would not wake up.
Magubane said Mchunu and Nxumalo took part in the murder for financial gain, and that there was a strong case against them.
The bail application was adjourned until Tuesday.
The Mercury