Social worker who killed six relatives awaits sentencing
THE house where a family of six was shot and killed execution-style by a relative, who is a social worker, remains abandoned three years after the shooting.
In February 2021 elderly couple Octavia, 65, and Christopher Khumalo, 77, their daughter, 37-year-old Mbali Khumalo, and her son Thabo Khumalo, 10, as well as their relatives, 17-year-old Nothile Sphelele Khumalo and 8-year-old Elihle Sigampu, were shot and killed by Christopher’s nephew, Sthembile Nkosinathi Mthimkhulu, in their eShowe home.
Elihle’s sister, Nosipho, who was nine at the time, escaped death on that night by hiding behind a curtain in the children’s room.
She was the State’s star witness whose evidence sealed Mthimkhulu’s fate. He was convicted in the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week of the murders.
Mthimkhulu accused his uncle of practising witchcraft and having had a hand in the death of his father, Bheki.
Bheki died in 2019 while returning from a tavern. It is thought that he encountered assailants who beat him, and he was found the next morning close to the Khumalo homestead.
Mthimkhulu had previously raised this suspicion at some point during a funeral at the Khumalo home and according to relatives the matter was discussed and the suspicion was dispelled.
Mthimkhulu, who has been in custody since 2021 after being denied bail, pleaded not guilty to the murders and claimed to have an alibi.
However, his car tracker report indicates that his VW Polo was stationary for nine minutes 103 meters from the Khumalo home.
Mthimkhulu’s alibi is that his car was parked 103 meters from the Khumalo home because he was drinking with a friend who lived down the road from the Khumalos.
Judge Kate Pillay said in her judgment: “The accused disputed any involvement in the killings and said there was no bad blood between the families, adding that Bheki died because he was sick and nothing in his death suggested witchcraft.
“He (Mthimkhulu) said Nosipho could have mistakenly identified the shooter. There are other people called Sthe in the area …The deaths are not in contention, what is an issue is the identity of the shooter.
“It is well established that the State bears the burden to prove the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Judge Pillay said although the accused claimed to have an albi, which the State had to disproof, it was clear from evidence from both the accused and the State that Mthimkhulu was in the vicinity of the Khumalo home at or around the time the killings happened.
“The correct approach to consider the alibi is in the light of the totality of the evidence presented in the trial. The State in its case relied on the identification evidence of a single child witness which should be scrutinised with caution.
“Such caution should not dispel common sense. In the end, the court is still required to weigh out the elements that point to guilt against those indicative of innocence.”
In finding him guilty, Judge Pillay found that Nosipho, though young, was a credible witness who was not shaken and stood by her evidence and that Mthimkhulu planned the murders and fabricated an alibi to align the car tracker report.
“It is likely he removed his mask in the belief that there would be no witnesses left alive to identify him,” Judge Pillay said.
During the trial, the court heard evidence from a traditional healer that Mthimkhulu went to after the murders.
Mthimkhulu confessed to the crime and said that his uncle killed his parents.
Mthimkhulu’s defence counsel at the time had objected to the traditional leader testifying on the basis of doctor-patient confidentiality.
“The protection (doctor-patient confidentiality) does not extend to a confessional admission to a crime. The interest of justice requires that all relevant information be placed before the court. Vakashile Delile Shezi (the traditional healer) was a credible witness despite evidence to impune her,” said Judge Pillay.
Sentencing had been due on Friday but had to be postponed due to Mthimkhulu’s counsel telling the court, through the State prosecutor, that he was unwell.
