EAST LONDON - The murder case involving an Eastern Cape police constable accused of killing his wife was postponed in the East London Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Zandisile Zweni, a police officer at Kidds Beach police station, has been in custody since he was arrested for allegedly murdering his estranged wife Andiswa Zweni, 36, in June this year.
Zweni allegedly shot her twice, in the head and close to the heart, in full view of some children and staff outside Voorpos Primary school in Cambridge where one of their children attends school.
The forty-four-year old confessed to the shooting during one of his bail appearances in front of Magistrate Joel Caeser but said it was not pre-meditated. “My mind was not functioning well when this happened, my wife was insulting me with personal things and this all happened so quickly while I wasn’t aware,” Zweni said at the time.
Zweni, who was on duty when the incident happened, said he only remembered firing a single shot and a person commanding him to drop the firearm which he did.
“We have two children with my late wife, one is an eleven-year-old boy and the other a fourteen-year-old girl. I also have another son out of wedlock and I need to be granted bail so I can take care of my kids,” he said.
Zweni has no previous convictions or pending cases, but the deceased had opened a case of gun pointing and assault against him which she later withdrew.
Before he was refused bail Investigating Officer Mthobeli Mazitshana said Zweni might interfere with the investigation.
“We have a very strong case against the accused including video footage which we acquired from the school,” said Mazitshana.
When the mother of the deceased Nomthandazo Robsini, who is also a state witness, was testifying at one of Zweni’s court appearances, she said his fourteen-year-old daughter was afraid of her father.
Robsini said the teenager suspected that her father wanted to kill the whole family not only her mom.
At Zweni's court appearance on Tuesday, Magistrate Rochelle Sam ordered that he be remanded in custody until the court gets further instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He will appear in court again on October 19.