Durban High Court Judge Bruce Bedderson is left confused and stunned by the decision of the principal of Mpumulwane Primary, KwaMaphumulo, Mr. Sithembiso Khumalo, to fire his lawyer as the case is in its final stages.
Yesterday, it was expected that the final submissions would be made, and then Khumalo would be sentenced as he was convicted of the murder of a police officer of the Durban Council, Captain Zwelakhe Ntombela.
It will be remembered that the deceased was shot in his house in May 2023. After that, the bull that shot, Mzo Ntombela, was arrested, who came to the court of the accused who was with them when the plot was planned to kill Ntombela.
Finally Mrs Faith Ntombela who is the wife of the deceased was arrested, and the name of the bull who is already serving a sentence for a different crime and wanted in KwaZulu-Natal, Khulani Cale, came out. Faith was denied bail, Khumalo got it.
After a few months, Faith plucked up the courage to plead guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Khumalo was left who has always denied the crime. This year, the trial of his case continued as it ended with his conviction on Monday.
He was afraid to stand on one foot, saying that he is being followed and he does not know how he is involved in this case because he has never seen the policeman in question and he does not know him.
Even though he said this, he did not want to enter the box, but the court forced him and he ended up dragging himself inside.
In all these stages, Khumalo had been represented by his lawyer, Advocate Mdu Mvune, since his first appearance at the Mlaza Magistrate’s Court, and when he applied for bail it was Mvune who represented him.
On Monday, Khumalo lost his temper when the court convicted him of murder and his family was embarrassed. At the same time, his lawyer and Mvune, made an unusual request for Khumalo’s bail to be extended.
Among the reasons he gave, he said Khumalo arrived in a car and it was not known who he was going to return with. Another said that learning will be disrupted if he is no longer at school.
The judge hit the ground running and said that would not happen, and ordered Mvune to go and study carefully what the law says about a person who has already been convicted in court.
Regarding the car, she said that she will be found to drive it back to Maphumulo, at the school she said that there is a deputy who will make sure that things do not get out of hand.
Yesterday, it was expected that the presentations would begin, and then Khumalo was sentenced, who came wearing the clothes he had been wearing on Monday.
However, all that did not happen as it was decided in court that Khumalo is now rejecting Mvune, he wants him to hire another lawyer who he believes can do better than Mvune.
The judge frowned at Khumalo’s decision, asking why he would do it now? Khumalo complained that Mvune was different and refused to help him to be sentenced in absentia.
The judge finally agreed. He said that it was okay to find a new lawyer who will be there today. He then pulled his ear but said that if it ever happened that the lawyer he was talking about did not bother him, he would have to stand up and make his own submissions to be sentenced.
The case went down like that and Khumalo went back to the pit, Mvune on the other hand, looked like a disappointed person.