WHILST waiting outside court for the bail application of the accused, an emotional Sibongile Shezi, the mother of the woman who was recently allegedly stabbed to death by her lover in Pinetown, recounted the pain and difficulty she has suffered.

The accused, Sikhumbuzo Zungu (43), was on Friday, November 7, granted a week by the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court to arrange an attorney because Legal Aid cannot represent him due to not falling within the salary threshold.

Zungu is due back in court on November 17.

Shezi said before she learnt of the murder of her last born daughter, Babongile Nkonyeni, she had been worried because she had not phoned her as she usually did.

Shezi, who lives in Umzinto, said she then contacted Nkonyeni’s sister to check up on her and that was how she learnt of the murder.

Also read: Murder accused to apply for bail after fatal stabbing of woman

“I don’t know what went wrong,” said a visibly distraught Shezi who also recalled an alleged past incident when Zungu attacked the mother of his child.

She recounted that their relationship was on the rocks because Zungu had allegedly made several empty promises to marry Nkonyeni.

Shezi said she has since learnt that Nkonyeni apparently wanted to end her relationship with Zungu, but she would not speculate whether that was the cause of her brutal killing.

She thanked her family for the invaluable support they have provided during this difficult time, including for Nkonyeni’s burial.

“I could not come to court for his first appearance because we had just laid my child to rest, but I came today because I wanted to see Sikhumbuzo with my own eyes,” said Shezi.

Nkonyeni’s sister Thokozani Nkonyeni described Babongile as a family-loving person whose love language was gift giving.

“Our sister will not come back to life but maybe it would soothe our wounds if he dies in jail,” said an upset Thokozani.

Thokozani said that on the day Babongile was murdered, Sunday, October 28, she began calling her at around 10:00 but her phone went unanswered throughout the day.

She said at around 18:50 she decided to contact Zungu, who upon answering the call sounded down and said he was on his way to Babongile.

However, Thokozani added, when she tried Zungu again about 30 minutes later, he was not answering his phone and she then called a neighbour to ask that they check up on Babongile.

“When the neighbour called me back, she only told me that she was waiting for the police but Babongile was inside the room. I think she was too afraid to tell me directly that she had been murdered,” said Thokozani.

Zungu faces an additional charge of theft because at the time of his arrest, he was allegedly found in possession of two cellphones belonging to Babongile.

According to the police, Babongile was murdered at about 03:00 at a residence on Glenridge Road in Pinetown.

Pinetown SAPS communications officer Jennifer Naidu said: “The victim was stabbed multiple times with an okapi knife. She was declared deceased on the scene.”

Naidu added that when the suspect was arrested by Detective Sergeant Neolin Chetty from the Pinetown SAPS, he was allegedly found in possession of property belonging to the murdered woman.

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