Durban — The family of murdered Sobantu grandmother, daughter and granddaughter have called for the wheels of justice to move swiftly in finalising the case against a 26-year-old charged with the murders.
Njabulo Ndlovu, who allegedly killed Zanele Ndlela, 65, her daughter Simangele Ndlela, 46, and her 8-year-old daughter Zenande, appeared briefly in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Sibusiso Dlomo, Zanele Ndlela’s nephew and Simangele’s cousin, described Ndlovu as an animal.
“It was hard burying three coffins at the same time this weekend, we have never had that happen as a family and even in Sobantu,” said Dlomo.
He said his aunt was the pillar of the family who moved to Sobantu in the 1920s.
“To all of us as a family, she was our pillar not just for her children, we are a very large family. What happened hurt us a lot. This also has taught us that maybe as a family we need to look after each other more.”
Zenande, known affectionately as “Mama”, was a bright child, according to Dlomo.
“She was loving and outgoing, we were hoping that we would get something out of her. Simangele was a good person that would not even harm a fly.
“What he (Ndlovu) did has left us with huge pain, he is an animal. We hope that what has happened to our family doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Dlomo also thanked the police while also making a plea for swift justice.
“We want him to be sentenced as soon as possible. These days it’s even hard to get some sleep, all we can think about is that there’s a person out there who killed my aunt, killed Mama, and strangled an 8-year-old, none of us can sleep.”
The matter was adjourned for transfer to the High Court and Ndlovu would be detained at Mountain Rise police station with reasons for his safety being cited.
According to the police, a relative walked into his home to find his three family members lying on the floor with bruises and strangulation marks on their necks.
Mountain Rise police opened a docket with three counts of murder and two counts of rape for investigation.
Ndlovu, a stranger to the family but known in the community, arrived at the family’s home with two other people which included a friend of Simangele’s.
It’s alleged that they consumed alcohol until late and since Ndlovu had become better acquainted with Simangele, he stayed behind while the other visitors left.
It’s alleged the drinking continued as it had been agreed that Ndlovu would be sleeping over.
Daily News