THE sentencing proceedings for Thabo Ntokozo Theodore Nzimande, who was found guilty of his grandmother’s murder, are set to get underway at the Durban High Court on Monday (September 21).

Acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi, sitting at the Durban High Court, set the sentencing proceedings for September 21 and 22.

On July 16, Nzimande was found guilty of the 2024 murder of his grandmother, Beata Beatrice de Lange (80).

Handing down judgment in July, Sibisi said Nzimande’s version that he had blacked out on the night of the murder was “clearly manufactured”, and that during trial, this claim could not be medically explained by experts on the witness stand.

Sibisi said Nzimande’s denial that he does not know what had transpired at the granny flat he shared with his grandmother and what had happened to the deceased “is a lie”.

Sibisi added that Nzimande had shown a “selective amnesia” when responding to some “crucial questions”.

Also read: Man sentenced to life for murder of child’s mother in Pinetown

Sibisi said Nzimande’s defence was not reasonably or possibly true and therefore rejected it.

The judge also said there was no indication that Nzimande lacked criminal capacity, and had acted voluntarily.

The judge said the evidence presented in the case pointed to Nzimande’s guilt.

Nzimande killed his grandmother on June 7, 2024 and in court, had pleaded not guilty to the murder.

In his not guilty plea, he stated that on the night he had smoked cannabis and overdosed on prescription pills before passing out and was not aware of what had happened to the deceased.

Nzimande and his grandmother lived in a granny flat at a Pinetown property belonging to his uncle.

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