Mother and daughter in dock for the alleged murder of Newlands mom and child
|Published
Smangele Simamane and her daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu,12 were found stuffed in a big suitcase that was dumped on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka in 2020. | Supplied
Durban — Slindile Pamela Zamisa and her daughter Andile Zamisa, 23, as well as a 13-year-old, charged with the 2020 murders of Smangele Simamane and her daughter Sbongakonke Mthembu,12 are expected to appear on Wednesday in the Durban High Court.
Simamane and her daughter were found stuffed in a big suitcase that was dumped on Lwandle Drive in KwaDabeka.
In April, Zamisa’s stepdaughter Nomfundo Truelove Ngcobo, pleaded guilty in the Pietermaritzburg High Court to Simamane’s murder and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
In her plea she had said the motive for the killing was that she believed that Simamane was part of a group of people who were responsible for her father’s death through witchcraft.
Last year in May, the Pietermaritzburg High Court sentenced Nicholas Sithembiso Lamula, 41, who was Zamisa’s boyfriend, to six years’ imprisonment for his role in the murders.
According to his plea, his girlfriend managed to lure Simamane and her daughter to a house in Durban where she blamed them for a close relative’s death.
When the accused last appeared in court on June 9, State Advocate B M Mbokazi said that the matter had been on the roll for a possible plea however he asked for an adjournment as the defense who was representing all three accused would no longer be doing so.
“There’s a conflict of interest between all three accused,” he said at the time.
Defense attorney T Mlondo confirmed that there was a conflict adding that he would be representing the minor only in the matter.
Zamisa and her daughter have been in custody since their arrest in June 2021 having been denied bail in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court.
The minor is in the care of a guardian.
Daily News