Durban - Domestic worker Emily Mchunu, 52, accused of conspiring to murder her employer, and her co-accused, her alleged boyfriend, Joshua Nxumalo, have been indicted to the high court to commence their murder trial. The two appeared briefly in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday where they were served with indictments and ordered to appear in the city’s high court for trial on November 14.
Mchunu’s bail was also reduced from R10 000 to R5 000 by Magistrate M Boikhutso on Monday after it was noted that Mchunu’s family could not afford the initial amount. Mchunu was granted bail a month ago, but has remained in custody due to her family not being able to raise the R10 000.
Mchunu and Nxumalo are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
Nxumalo allegedly murdered Mchunu’s employer, Lee’s Auto Sales owner Mohamed Ashraf Mohideen. He remains in custody after abandoning his bail application.
Mohideen’s son, 26-year-old Jibraeel Mohideen, pleaded guilty to the killing, along with the second hitman, Zandisile Mtshali, at the Pietermaritzburg High Court earlier this year. Mohideen jr was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and Mtshali sentenced to 25 years.
Mohideen sr, who was 57, was killed in his James Niven Road home in Scottsville on February 25. He was stabbed, beaten with a hammer and his throat slit.
In his plea, Mohideen jr revealed that he and his mentally challenged twin sister had been emotionally abused by their father for many years.
Following a heated argument with his father, he conspired with Mchunu, the family’s domestic worker to kill him. Mchunu allegedly then secured the services of her boyfriend, Nxumalo; who roped in Mtshali to help him commit the murder.
Mchunu has denied any knowledge of the crimes, claiming that she too was a victim as she was tied up during the course of the robbery.
Daily News