DURBAN - THE husband of the Newlands East woman – found dead and stuffed into a suitcase with her daughter – believes his healing process would have been hampered had the alleged murderers been granted bail.
Smangele Simamane and her daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu,12, were found stuffed in a big suitcase dumped on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka last year. It is alleged that Simamane was last seen after being called to their neighbour’s house over a children’s argument, but she never returned.
In May, the Pietermaritzburg High Court jailed Nicholas Sithembiso Lamula, 41, for six years over his role in the murders. He handed himself over to police in April and confessed to his involvement. In his plea, he said his girlfriend lured Simamane and her daughter to a house in Durban and blamed them for a relative’s death.
On Friday, at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court Lamula’s girlfriend Slindile Pamela Zamisa and her daughter Andile Zamisa, 23, were denied bail. They appeared with co-accused Nomfundo Ngcobo, 23, who previously abandoned bail and a 13-year-old who was released into the custody of a guardian.
The four are charged with murder, kidnapping and obstructing justice. Applying for bail, Slindile said she was self-employed as a vendor and made R3 000 a month. Andile said she had a 2-year-old daughter and that the three lived together in Newlands East.
Both were arrested on the same day but in different places, KwaDukuza and Joburg, in June.
Magistrate Gwendolyn Robinson said their bail application affidavits were scant. The investigating team traced them with the help of family members. “She says she’s a vendor. I have no knowledge of what she sells and where she works from … She argues she’s not a flight risk …
“Her brother testified that she fled. She said in her affidavit she went to Johannesburg to a traditional healer for her daughter. Are there none in KwaZulu-Natal? Nothing in the affidavit states how the daughter is doing.”
She said Andile’s affidavit had no details in terms of whether her child was destitute following her mother’s arrest.
Simamane’s husband Senzo said he was ready for the emotional rollercoaster when the trial opens old wounds. It’s been difficult since his wife’s murder.
Daily News