Durban - A Grade 11 pupil has pleaded guilty to murdering the security guard at his high school and receiving R150 from his alleged accomplices for his part in the crime.
Sphamandla Mkhize, 19, who attended Mandlanyoka High School in Mid-Illovo, confessed to his role in the brutal murder of 65-year-old security guard Mbokodo Nene on the school grounds on the night of May 14.
Nene’s body was found five days later, dumped in a bushy area a few kilometres from the school.
In his plea before the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday, the baby-faced teenager said that on the day of the murder, he had gone to his uncle Shumi Mkhize’s house, where his uncle told him and his older cousin, Sthabiso Xaba, that they must accompany him to the high school to rob Nene.
“Both Xaba and I agreed to participate in robbing the guard. My uncle said I must arm myself with a bush knife, which he gave me, and Xaba took a firearm which was not loaded.” By the time they got to the school it was dark, the pupil said.
“My uncle pointed out where Nene was and Xaba knocked on the door. Nene opened the door and he was armed with a knobkierie and a sharpened iron.”
He said his uncle grabbed Nene and the two men fell to the ground in a struggle. When Nene managed to stand up, Xaba stabbed him.
“I grabbed the weapons that Nene had dropped. My uncle then started demanding that Nene take us to his rondavel, outside the school property, and give us his money,” the teenager said.
He said his uncle then used his shoelaces to bind Nene’s hands together. “Nene was resisting and struggling and Xaba stabbed him again. I did not see how many times he was stabbed, I just saw him fall down. I used the light of my cellphone to look at Nene. It looked like he was dead,” he said.
The three then went to Nene’s rondavel and found R1 400 which they took before they fled.
The teenager attended school the next day as if nothing had happened and after school he went to Xaba’s home where he was given R150, his share of the stolen cash.
“My uncle said that I was getting R150, because I had not delivered like Xaba had. Xaba had assisted in restraining Nene and I had not,” he said, adding that he spent R50 of his loot on alcohol and gave the rest to his mother, who was unemployed.
The case has been adjourned to August 8 to allow for a social worker to interview the teenager and compile a pre-sentencing report.
The Mercury