Ballito mother accused of murdering daughter (6) to have mental state assessed

The Ballito mother accused of murdering her six-year-old child, Fungai Nyamadzawo, will be admitted to a state facility for mental observation to determine her fitness to stand trial.

Nyamadzawo appeared briefly at the Umhlali Magistrates court on Tuesday charged with the premeditated murder of her six-year-old daughter, Alexia, a grade 1 pupil at Umhlali Preparatory School.

Last week state prosecutor Sanesh Rambaran submitted three medical records to magistrate Blanche van Heerden – two compiled by general practitioners and the third by a specialist psychiatrist obtained by subpoena from the state.

Nyamadzawo’s mental state was brought into question by her attorney, Rakesh Maharaj, at her second appearance on June 8.

Magistrate Blanche van Heerden asked Maharaj if he was aware that his client’s records showed “nothing wrong with her, no agitation or anything”, and pointed out that one report was dated March 20 of this year, before the incident.

Maharaj said the reports had been compiled before Nyamadazwa’s arrest and new assessments would need to be made.

The body of six-year-old Alexia Nyamadzawo was found in a remote sugarcane field in Riet Valley two days after she was reported “snatched” from the back seat of her mother’s vehicle by an “unknown suspect” on Sunday, May 29.

Nyamadzawo claimed to be driving along Glendale Road, near Shayamoya and slowed down at a speed hump when she alleged a man opened the back door of her vehicle and snatched the sleeping Alexia from the back seat before fleeing.

Defence attorney Maharaj told the North Coast Courier last Wednesday that Nyamadzawo was having a ‘tough time’ with the conditions at KwaDukuza police station holding cells and that she was ‘very emotional’.

“She is being kept under close observation while in police custody,” he said.

The matter was adjourned to June 30 to enable the state to make arrangements for Nyamadzawo’s admission.