THE trial of the Pinetown man accused of stabbing and decapitating his grandmother is expected to continue at the Durban High Court on Monday, September 15, after it was adjourned on Friday to allow the accused to seek medical attention after he complained of being sick.

The presiding officer in the matter, acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi, told the accused, Thabo Ntokozo Theodore Nzimande (32), that the court had been informed by the Senior State Advocate Nadira Moosa that an arrangement had been made for him to be taken to a doctor at the Westville prison.

Nzimande, who is in the dock for the murder of his grandmother, Beata Beatrice de Lange (80), told the court that he had “stomach issues” which had bugged him from Thursday, but had wanted to push through the trial so that it could be adjourned on Friday for him to go to hospital.

Nzimande’s aunt, Ziningi Myaka, was expected to take the witness stand when the matter resumed.

This after Nzimande’s legal representative, Emmanuel Chiliza, unsuccessfully tried to object to a portion of Myaka’s testimony, which he said “goes to the heart of the defence” and “will be severely prejudicial” to his client.

Acting Judge Sibisi provisionally allowed Myaka’s testimony to be heard by the court, which Moosa said were words allegedly uttered by De Lange on the morning of May 25, 2024, ahead of a family session at a rehabilitation centre the latter was scheduled to accompany Nzimande to, but eventually did not due to what she told Myaka.

The court has heard from a social worker at the rehabilitation centre, Jaishiela Kooverjee, that De Lange had accompanied Nzimande to all the family workshops at the facility save for the last one on May 25, 2024, which was just days before her murder on June 7, 2024.

Also read: Court hears grisly details

The defence has argued that the State is trying to paint a picture that there were problems between De Lange and Nzimande.

The court has heard from Nzimande’s uncle, John Ngcobo, and his son, Zwelethu, the accused’s cousin, that the relationship between the grandson in the dock and De Lange had soured towards the end of her life.

The court also heard from the uncle that Nzimande’s troublesome ways, which allegedly included stealing from relatives and excessive alcohol consumption, and the taking of drugs, had caused a rift within the family, with De Lange on the side that supported the accused’s rehabilitation journey.

During the course of the trial last week, Chiliza’s objection led to a ruling by Sibisi that a trial within a trial be held over the testimony of the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Noelen Chetty.

“These admissions are coming through the back door and they will poison this trial,” Chiliza had argued.

Nzimande has pleaded not guilty to De Lange’s murder, in his defence stating that on the night he had smoked cannabis and overdosed on prescription pills before passing out, and is neither aware of what had happened to his grandmother, nor in the granny flat, which was found bloodied and in disarray by the first police officers at the scene of the murder.

He has also disputed testimony by a State witness that he had allegedly shouted that his ancestors had “instructed” him to commit the gruesome murder.

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