The Durban High Court, yesterday, heard that the call center manager in Mhlanga, Mr. Mfanafuthi Kunene, confessed to his mother by beating a woman to death, and then hiding her body.
This was revealed by the State’s witness, Sergeant Jessica Nkosi, who was part of the team investigating the case of a missing person in December 2024.
Sergeant Nkosi said that on December 31, 2024, they found a docket about the missing person Ms. Ayabonga Mjilo, and were also told by the deceased’s sister, Ms. Nontobeko Mjilo, that she was last seen in Mhlanga.
“We contacted her boyfriend, and he told us that the last time she spoke to him, he told him that he was at a Christmas party,” said Sergeant Nkosi, who said they were in Mhlanga, where they were able to see him on camera leaving the food court and getting into a car with a man.
He said the deceased’s sister told them that they heard that his colleagues were at the party, and when asked, they confirmed this and said that their colleague had left Kunene with him.
“We are giving over to Kunene’s work, we were told that he reported an emergency, and then he said that he would not come to work,” said Sergeant Nkosi.
He said that when the investigating officer, Sergeant Nhlanhla Mhlongo contacted the accused, he mentioned that he is not near Thekwini until he returns home on Sunday.
He revealed that they then handed them over to Nanda at around 2 in the morning, and when they introduced themselves, it was Kunene who opened the door when he said he was not there.
“My colleagues showed their vouchers, asked to search the house, Ms. Mjilo could not be found, and when her cell phone was called, it rang in the house,” he said.
Sergeant Nkosi said that while they were standing there, the suspect’s mother approached him and told him that her son was angry with her for what he had done.
“The mother told me that her son came to her and told her that he did something bad, he hit a woman and killed her. She told me that she told him to surrender to the police.”
He said that they had arrested the accused, then he spread rumors and pointed to where he had buried the body of the deceased.
Before that, the driver of the paid car, Mr. Zenzele Ngcobo, testified that he was the one who took them to Mhlanga after receiving a request to take them to Acacia Primary, Trenance Park.
Ngcobo told the court that there was a verbal argument when he arrived at the place, the accused kept ordering him to continue driving the car saying that he should drive a little further.
However, he said that while they were on their way to Maoti, he heard the deceased crying, and when he looked in the mirror, he saw that he was leaning on the accused who seemed to be comforting him. He said he could not hear their conversation because they were speaking softly. He said that although he had heard the deceased crying, when they got off, he did not show any signs of not wanting to go with the accused.
Before Ngcobo, another witness, Mr Sbahle Pienaar, who turned out to be a friend of the deceased, He revealed that the deceased sent him a message after 12 in the morning on Christmas Day, asking for help to call a paid car for the distance traveled because he felt unsafe. He said that he gave the reason that when he tried to call the car for himself, no driver would accept the request, which is why he asked Pienaar to help him.
Pienaar told the court that the deceased sent him a WhatsApp message saying that he will not pick him up from where he is because he feels unsafe.
He said he sent him the car, and when it was there, the deceased’s phone did not answer.
The lawyer for the defendant, Mrs. Judy Reddy, while cross-examining Pienaar, then revealed that when the defendant presents his evidence, he will reveal what made the deceased feel unsafe.
Mrs. Reddy also told Pienaar on the defendant’s side that she did not kill the deceased herself but threw his body into the pit toilet after seeing that he was still and foaming at the mouth. Pienaar simply replied that he could not comment.
The case continues today.