Nearly a year after witnessing a bloody attack on their mother meted out by their father in their Morningside home, two siblings aged three and five still recall how their mother was killed.
The boys’ father, Mhleli Lindley Ndaba, is currently out on R20 000 on bail charged with the murder of his fiancée Dima Phohlo.
Dima’s mother, Thandi Phohlo speaking outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where Ndaba had appeared said that the children often spoke about what they had witnessed on that fateful day.
The injured mother ran outside where it is alleged that Ndaba continued to stab her.
It has been alleged that Dima attempted to escape from Ndaba and tried getting into a car that was passing by but he caught up with her after she fell. What transpired thereafter was recorded on CCTV.
Ndaba’s version was that he acted in self-defence after allegedly being attacked by the mother of his children in an argument.
“It has been almost a year and they (the children) still speak about that day, the older one remembers everything. The children have already experienced their first Christmas and birthdays without their mother. The older child even verbalised this saying that these special days are just not and will never be the same without their mother. All we want is justice for my daughter,” said Thandi Phohlo outside court.
It was Ndaba’s third appearance in the regional court on Thursday after the matter was transferred from the district court where his bail application was heard.
He appeared before Acting Magistrate V Alamachand where his pre-trial conference was meant to be heard but was postponed.
State Prosecutor L Ncemane said that resident prosecutor Carlson Govender was not in court and he had already consulted State witnesses in the matter and was better suited to do the pre-trial conference.
“Taking into account the evidence to be led and the nature of the charge, which is a femicide matter a date has been pre-arranged with the defence for Govender to deal with the pre-trial conference,” said Ncemane.
Ndaba is being represented by defence Advocate Jay Naidoo instructed by attorney SP Msimango.
Once the pre-trial has been concluded trial dates will be set in the matter.
He is out on R20 000 bail which was granted last year in November by by Magistrate Xolile Manjezi with conditions that he relocate to Stanger and not contact his two children as well as witnesses in the matter.
At the time the magistrate said that there had been no evidence in any form from the deceased’s family that Ndaba had previously threatened them or the two minor children.
Manjezi granted Ndaba bail on the basis that there had been no history of any gender-based violence committed by Ndaba before this offence was presented to the court.
Further to this, while there had been evidence before the court that a person who had intervened on the day that Phohlo was killed was threatened by Ndaba, there was no evidence that the accused would prevent that person from coming to testify in court.
