MAN FOUND GUILTY OF BRUTAL MURDER OF WIFE

MBABANE – “He is an elderly man, apparently more than 70 years old. Inside him there resides an animal, a vicious one at that.”

This is how Judge Titus Mlangeni described Mkhalashane Magagula before finding him guilty of the murder of his wife Rose Maphanga (63).
Magagula assaulted his wife with an axe until she died inside their two-room house at Mgungundlovu.

In his judgment, Judge Mlangeni said: “It is apparent that Rose Maphanga learned to live with this cruelty, such that even when she sustained permanent disability at the hands of her husband to the extent of requiring a crutch to walk, she did not leave him.”

Evidence

The court further noted that Magagula’s violence was unbridled and on August 12, 2013, he assaulted his wife until she died inside their two-room house. The bone of contention was a paltry amount of money.
“Their marital life was characterised by constant violence, perpetrated by the accused upon his wife,” said Judge Mlangeni.

The court found that the evidence against Magagula was overwhelming. “It is of significance that the accused, faced with damning evidence against him, opted to remain silent. The reason for this stance is not difficult to see. The result of this is that the evidence of the Crown stands undisputed,” observed the court.

Judge Mlangeni said in his view, the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Magagula intentionally killed his wife. At the commencement of the trial, a post-mortem report in respect of tMaphanga was handed in by consent of both parties and it was marked Exhibit A.  According to the report, the deceased (Maphanga) was about 63 years old when she met her death.  The report attributed death to multiple injuries.

Scarcity

The first witness who was paraded by the Crown was Philemon Madijane Magagula, who is the biological son of the accused and Maphanga. He is a traditional healer.

He testified that on August 11, 2013, he was at Nkamazi area on traditional healing business.  Philemon told the court that he had left his parental home on a Friday and came back on Sunday, August 11, 2013. He narrated that because he was tired, he went straight into his one-room house. According to Philemon, when he approached his room, he saw his mother coming out of the toilet. This being a rural home, the toilet was a stand-alone structure within the homestead and the witness stated that his room was next to the toilet.

He recounted that as his mother came out of the toilet, she said the following words: “Waze wangisita mntfwanani ngekufika, ngilamthoyi nje ngibhacile.” This translates to; “You came at the right time my son, I have been hiding in the toilet.”

Philemon said he enquired why she was hiding in the toilet and she told him that the accused wanted money from her. He went on to narrate that on August 10, 2013, he had hired a motor vehicle to take his wife to hospital in Pigg’s Peak.  Maphanga had accompanied his (Philemon’s) wife on the trip to hospital and it appeared that on this vehicle, some other people were given a ride and they paid. Judge Mlangeni noted that in rural areas, this was a common practice and it was largely due to the scarcity of means of transport.
The accused believed that the riders had paid money to Maphangaand he wanted her to hand over the money. This was despite the fact that he was not the one who had paid for the hired motor vehicle.

Prosecutions

The court heard that after Maphanga (deceased) had told Philemon that his father wanted money, his response was that since he was tired, the matter would be discussed the following morning.
The witness stated that he then went to sleep. At about 7pm, his mother was calling for help, saying “Ngafa!” meaning: ‘I am dying’, and this awoke the witness.

Philemon did not go to give assistance because he had reservations that in the past, he would intervene and his father would attack him. The witness said he continued hearing the noise from her mother who was crying until 11pm when the noise faded. He told the court that after the noise had faded, he went to sleep again. 
He said he did not think that on this occasion, she would die. According to Philemon, he was able to hear the noise from the conflict because his room was close to that of his parents.

Appearing for the Crown was Patrick Mkhatshwa from the chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions while Musa Motsa represented Magagula. The investigator of the case was Mhlaba Hlatshwayo.
Magagula is yet to be sentenced.

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