Ming Lai He was arrested last week under charges of contravening the Disaster Management Act.
Photo: WP Paarz / Flickr
Sandile Nzama: Sentencing due for murdering his 66-year-old girlfriend
Nzama was found guilty of murder and theft on Friday.
Ming Lai He was arrested last week under charges of contravening the Disaster Management Act.
Photo: WP Paarz / Flickr
Sandile Nzama is set to be sentenced on Wednesday, at the Durban High Court for the murder of his high school history teacher and lover, 66-year-old Nomasonto Magdalene Ngwenya, whose body was found in February 2017.
The student conspired to murder his lover while living in her home
It is alleged that Nzama was 18-years-old when he began a stable relationship, with his history teacher, at St James High School in Berea.
According to IOL, Nzama had moved into his teachers’ house and lived with two other family members and Ngwenya’s daughter, during their relationship.
The accused was on trial after it was discovered he had disposed of the teacher’s body, in a dumpsite near Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. On Friday, 30 August, Nzama was found guilty of murder, theft and concealment of the body.
The accused requested help from a fellow pupil
It is reported that Nzama had been upset after Ngwenya refused to lend her car, which he utilised as a taxi operation. The court alleges that the quarrel over the Nissan Tiida belonging to Ngwenya, is what led to the conspiracy of her murder, and the accused followed through with the plan.
Nzama further conspired to murder and rob his teacher and asked for help from his friend, Sifundo Vilakazi, another pupil at the school during the time.
Nzama blamed his friend and told the court he was not involved in the murder
Nzama and Vilakazi tag-teamed and strangled the teacher, with a rope from Nzama’s tracksuit pants, in her car while they had driven off to a secluded area.
In 2018, Nzama under oath told the court he was not involved with the murder and blamed his friend, who had earlier confessed to Ngwenya’s murder and received a 12-year sentence for murder.
An R500 fee was due to Vilakazi for his participation in the murder
Vilakazi turned into a state witness and testified to the court, that his co-accused, Nzama had hatched the plan to murder and rob Ngwenya, at an R500 fee due to Vilakazi.
“He told me to tie the rope around her neck and I began strangling her. She tried to grab the rope, and Nzama stopped the car and held her hands until she stopped struggling. We realised that she was dead and I let go of the rope. We drove to a dumpsite in the KwaNdengezi area where we dumped the body and covered it with waste.”
Sifundo Vilakazi, co-accused
