Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal teacher who shot dead his fiancée, a 23-year-old Grade 11 pupil, and her mother following a quarrel on July 7, was sentenced to an effective 25 years in prison at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday.
Thirty-six-year-old Impangele Primary School teacher, Ntobeko Nkosi, was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of his fiancée, Khethiwe Xulu, who was a pupil at Ndukende High School in KwaMaphumulo, and 20 years for the murder of her mother, 40-year-old Winnie Xulu.
Nkosi, who pleaded guilty to the murders, was sentenced to a further five years for the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The sentence on the second murder charge was ordered to run concurrently with the first, resulting in an effective 25-year sentence.
In his plea, Nkosi, who has a three-year-old child with Khethiwe Xulu, said he and Khethiwe lived together until she moved out following several problems related to suspicions of infidelity.
He said she also took decisions without consulting him, and this had upset him.
Khethiwe then moved to her parental home. On the day of the murders, Nkosi said he went to Khethiwe’s parental home to “sort out the problems”.
He said because he had to walk to the house at night, he borrowed his neighbour’s gun and went to Khethiwe’s home armed.
When he arrived at Khethiwe’s home, Nkosi said he was insulted by her mother, who told him he was causing a “nuisance” at her premises, and called him “useless and a scumbag”.
“I told her that I was just there to speak to my fiancée, but I could see that I was clearly not welcome there and told her I would leave,” he said.
However, Nkosi said he became angry when Winnie Xulu again called him useless, and he drew the firearm and shot both women dead.
Sentencing Nkosi, Judge Nkosinathi Chili said he had been convicted of taking the lives of two innocent, defenceless women in a cruel, callous, cold-blooded fashion.
The judge said it was clear from the evidence before him that Khethiwe had left the home she shared with Nkosi after she discovered he was cheating on her.
Nkosi has 11 children, the youngest of whom is just three months old.
When Khethiwe decided to leave Nkosi, Judge Chili said that instead of manning up and taking responsibility for his actions, he armed himself with an unlicensed firearm and decided to attack Khethiwe.
“It is also clear that he was not prepared to let anyone stand in his way. When (Khethiwe) Xulu’s mother appeared, she, too, was killed,” the judge said.
However, the judge found several factors in Nkosi’s favour.
These included that he was gainfully employed as a teacher, and had been for seven years at the time of the crimes, and was also studying towards his honours degree in education at the University of North West.
He was the sole supporter of all eleven of his children and was a first offender, who pleaded guilty and showed remorse for his actions.
Following Nkosi’s arrest, KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwana cautioned all teachers involved with pupils to stop breaking the law.
The MEC said teachers were expected to play a parental role at schools, and not see learners as partners who they could be romantically involved with.
The MEC warned further that it was a dismissible offence for any teacher to be involved in a relationship with a pupil, and any teacher found to be in a relationship with a pupil would face the full might of the law.
Daily News