THE Durban High Court on Wednesday heard that the relationship between murder accused Thabo Ntokozo Theodore Nzimande (32), and his grandmother, Beata Beatrice de Lange (80), whom he allegedly killed, had become strained a month before her gruesome death.

This was according to testimony from Nzimande’s cousin, Zwelethu Ngcobo, who told the court that he grew up with the accused and viewed him as a brother.

Ngcobo told the court that De Lange and Nzimande argued almost daily in the last month of her life, with one argument unfolding within the week of the murder on June 7, 2024.

Cross-examining Ngcobo, Nzimande’s legal representative, Emmanuel Chiliza, questioned the witness whether he had not recalled this tension between the accused and De Lange as a way of disputing the former’s version of events.

Chiliza asked Ngcobo why he had not shared this with the police when they took statements after the murder, with the latter responding that he had only disclosed it to the State prosecutor about a week ago.

“I was in shock and also, I didn’t see it as that important, but at the same time, I honestly do not know why I did not tell the police,” responded Ngcobo.

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Chiliza put it to Ngcobo that this raised the issue that “a motive that’s not there” was being created, to which Ngcobo responded in the negative.

In response to Chiliza’s question whether the arguments had led to De Lange’s murder, Ngcobo said he does not know what the motive was, but viewed it as wrong that an adult man would raise his voice at an elderly woman.

Nzimande has pleaded not guilty to the murder and said that on the night of the incident, he had smoked dagga and overdosed on prescription pills, and neither has a recollection of what transpired at the crime scene – the granny flat he shared with his grandmother – nor what happened to the latter.

Ahead of Ngcobo’s testimony, Chiliza for Nzimande told the court that the accused also disputes testimony from a previous witness that he had been “instructed” by his ancestors to commit the murder, but rather that he had heard voices telling him “you know what to do” before he passed out on the night of the incident.

Responding to cross-examination by Senior State Advocate Nadira Moosa, both Ngcobo and a social worker based at a rehabilitation centre where Nzimande was admitted in January 2024, testified that the accused had not mentioned a history of hallucinations, hearing voices or delusions.

The matter continues in court.

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