Durban — A recent development concerning an alleged hit man charged with the murder of his brother-in-law was likely to see his trial proceed again only next year in the Durban High Court.
Nkosi Timmy Langa was killed with an electric cord that was cut from an iron in his home.
It was placed around his neck and his brother-in-law Nkosinathi Zungu allegedly pulled one end of it while another alleged hit man, James Mashudu “Ramaphosa” Mthimkhulu allegedly pulled the other.
Langa was kidnapped from his Pinetown home after the men allegedly gained entry to his home via the main gate. The men are said to have entered the home through a door, that had been allegedly intentionally left unlocked by Langa’s wife, Nomphumelelo Patricia Goncalves.
The men allegedly placed Langa in his Isuzu X-Raider and drove him to where he was strangled to death – a forest in Ozwathini.
Goncalves, a nurse, and Zungu face charges of murder and robbery, while Goncalves faces additional charges of defeating the course of justice for allegedly falsely reporting her husband missing and that his vehicle was stolen.
According to Langa’s family, Zungu on Thursday during the trial indicated that he wanted to change his lawyer, a development that Langa’s sister Zodwa said saw the family break into tears in the courtroom gallery as this meant yet another delay in the trial.
“His reasoning was that his current lawyer was not Zulu-speaking and sometimes he didn’t understand his lawyer, so he requested to be represented by a Zulu-speaking lawyer. We are heartsore to experience yet another delay which (allegedly) appears to have been organised between the two of them somehow with the exchange of money,” she claimed.
Zodwa said on Wednesday her sister had witnessed something suspicious that led her to believe that Zungu’s impending change in legal representation was allegedly part of further delaying the trial.
“This happens on Wednesday and then the next day in court Zungu wants to change lawyers. All along he (Zungu) has never had a problem with the lawyer; the trial was meant to finish this (last) week. We couldn’t hold our emotions on Thursday; we broke down and cried because we just can’t understand how this is happening.”
The trial resumed last week after having last sat in June. It had begun in May and ran into June but was abruptly cut short as Goncalves was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Zodwa said that the family was advised by the State that the trial was likely to resume only next year.
“We have been caused irreversible and unforgettable pain, is it not enough that we suffered the loss of our brother and mother? Our mother died on January 5, 2021, after the accused Patricia was released on bail on December 8, 2020. She was just unable to accept what had happened and she just died after not having been sick at all.”
The matter was adjourned to November 30 when new trial dates are expected to be set.
Daily News