The Eshowe Regional Court has sentenced Zamani Zulu to life and 18 years imprisonment for the murder, kidnapping and assault he committed in December 2021 in the KwaKhoza area of Eshowe.
Zulu, 39, was also sentenced for the unlawful possession of a firearm.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said some time prior to the incident, Zulu was in a relationship with the complainant, (his ex-girlfriend) and they had a child together. He had paid lobola for her, however, she left him due to his abusive behaviour towards her and her family; and subsequently got into a new relationship.
“On December 3, 2021, Zulu kidnapped the complainant and took her to an abandoned house where he assaulted her to coerce her into taking him back. After she still refused him, he told her that if she didn’t take him back, he would either kill their child, or her mother to get back at her,” said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
“On December 12, 2021, the complainant’s new boyfriend went to her house to pay lobola for her. Following the successful lobola negotiations, she went to Durban.”
Later that day, Zulu went to the complainant’s house looking for her and was told that she was not there. He became hostile towards her siblings but left the house, promising to return.
Later that day, at around 9pm, he returned to the house, asking for them to unlock the gate. When they refused, he jumped over the fence and pulled out a firearm threatening the complainant’s siblings as the complainant was not there, said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
“He asked the complainant’s mother (‘the deceased’), for his lobola to be returned to him. She told him that she did not have a problem in returning the lobola but asked that he come back with the lobola negotiators he had brought at the time. He told her that she was fooling him and approached her with the firearm,” said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
“The deceased ran away from him, but he caught up with her, put the firearm to the back of her head, and shot her in the presence of her children. He then fled the scene. The following day the police received information that he was at his homestead and when they got there, they found that he had poisoned himself and a firearm was lying next to him. He was rushed to hospital where he regained consciousness and was arrested.”
In court, regional court prosecutor Russell Mngoma handed in a Victim Impact Statement (VIS) compiled by the complainant and facilitated by court preparation officer Amanda Nxumalo.
In her statement the complainant said her family is no longer as happy as they used to be. Her siblings have been mentally scarred by the incident and are still haunted by the events that took place. She said the children in the family are struggling to cope.
Zulu was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, 10 years imprisonment for the unlawful possession of a firearm, five years imprisonment for kidnapping and three years’ imprisonment for assault.
Mr Ramkisson-Kara said he will serve an effective life imprisonment and the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
