Farai Ncube
Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
A MARRIED Plumtree man who pounded his HIV positive girlfriend to death with a hoe handle and a 4kg wooden pestle for allegedly infecting him with a sexually transmitted infection, was yesterday sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese convicted Farai Ncube, 42, of Mayobodo area on a charge of murder with actual intent for killing his lover, Singatsho Ndebele, 41, whom he accused of being a prostitute and infecting him with an STI.
During trial, Ncube said even though his girlfriend was HIV positive and had not disclosed her status, he had tested HIV negative.
Ndebele was killed at a homestead where she was employed as a domestic worker. Ncube was having an affair with Ndebele while on the other hand he had a family of his own.
The two lovers had a child together.
Justice Makonese, in his judgment, said Ncube deliberately targeted the most vulnerable parts of the body, which effectively meant that his intention was to kill his girlfriend.
“Ncube foresaw death as a substantial certainty when he consistently and indiscriminately attacked Ndebele all over her body and targeting vulnerable parts. He used excessive force as reflected in the postmortem report. He continued to attack Ndebele even after she had became motionless and unconscious until the hoe handle broke into two pieces,” said the judge.
In passing the sentence, Justice Makonese described Ncube as a wicked person who deserved a lengthy prison term.
“The victim died under most horrific circumstances just because she had failed to disclose her HIV status. The courts have time and again frowned upon the use of violence as a means to resolve disputes,” he said.
Justice Makonese said the courts have a duty to uphold the sanctity of human life.
“Ndebele died when she was in the prime of her life and the impact of her death can’t be over-emphasised. The courts have to strike a balance between Ncube’s interests and those of society. In the circumstances a 30- year prison term will meet the justice of the matter,” ruled the judge.
In mitigation through his lawyer Mazhar Petkar of James Moyo-Majwabu and Nyoni Legal Practitioners, Ncube pleaded for leniency, saying he was the sole breadwinner looking after his six children.
“My client is a first offender with no previous convictions. He didn’t waste the court’s time by admitting the charge. Such an approach should therefore give him a wage that he deserves since he owned up for his wrongdoings and showed remorse,” said Petkar.
Prosecuting, Thompson Hove said on December 11 last year shortly after 11PM, Ncube went to Ndebele’s workplace and ordered her to open the door.
The court heard that Ndebele partially opened the door and upon seeing Ncube armed, she quickly closed the door and locked it. Ncube forced the door open using an iron bar and gained entry into Ndebele’s hut.
Ndebele tried to escape but Ncube caught up with her while she was on the veranda and struck her on the head with a wooden hoe handle. The now deceased sustained a deep cut on the head and started bleeding but that did not stop Ncube from assaulting her.
The court heard that Ncube dragged her into the house and ordered the two children who were asleep at the time to wake up and witness ‘how a prostitute is treated’.
Ncube told the two children that he was punishing Ndebele for infecting him with an STI. “Ncube struck Ndebele several times with a pestle all over the body until she collapsed as the two juveniles screamed for help,” said Hove.
He then dragged her out of the yard for about 37 metres, dumped her and fled.
Neighbours arrived at the scene after hearing screams from the two children but Ncube had already disappeared. Ndebele who was unconscious at the time was taken to Mayobodo Clinic but she died upon arrival.
According to the post-mortem results, death was due to multiple fractures and subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Ncube was arrested while trying to skip the country into neighbouring Botswana through an illegal crossing point near Mphoengs Border Post.