African News Agency
A 44-year-old man has appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court for allegedly killing his wife in their eManzimtoti home with a hand grenade after a domestic argument, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
The case against Joel Mahoase was postponed to September 11 yesterday for a formal bail application.
Earlier, police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said that the man, a former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) member and a former colonel in the SA Air Force, handed himself over to eManzimtoti police on Wednesday.
“The former air force colonel and a former MK who allegedly blew up his wife with a hand grenade has been arrested,” said Zwane.
Mahoase has been charged with murder, attempted murder and the unlawful possession of explosives charges.
On Tuesday, Zwane said Mahoase is alleged to have thrown an M26 grenade into the kitchen of their eManzimtoti home on Saturday night.
His wife Lesego succumbed to her wounds at about 2am after being rushed to Kingsway Hospital. She was a member of the SA Air Force and was based at the military base on the Bluff in Durban.
SANDF spokesman Brigadier Xolani Mabanga said on Tuesday that the SANDF were not conducting an investigation into how the man secured the two M26 hand grenades.
He said that once the police investigation had been completed and it had been confirmed that the grenades were indeed SANDF issue, it would then institute its own investigations.
“If the grenades are identified to be things that should be the inventory of the SANDF, then the SANDF will definitely investigate how did the member get in possession of those,” he said.
He said that ordinarily members of the SANDF were not allowed to bring ammunition or weapons home.