A SOLDIER accused of shooting himself in the back told the Pinetown District Court yesterday that he shot himself and died.
This comes as Mr. Lwanda Mxolisi Zungu testifies before the court in the case of the death of his wife, Mrs. Tania Zungu.
Mrs Zungu was shot dead at her home in Pinetown on January 3, 2024.
Zungu told the court that on the day of the incident, the deceased shot himself repeatedly up to eight times.
Zungu was being questioned by the state prosecutor, Mr. Rowan Souls. Presenting his testimony, Zungu said he heard his wife paying for his gun, while he was busy looking for gym shoes. He said at the same time, his wife shouted at her mother, who was also present in the house, saying that Zungu was attacking her.
According to Zungu, he jumped on the bed to defend himself, making sure that the barrel of the gun was not pointing in his direction. He said that the gun went off the bed, and in that struggle, the gun went off.
He insisted that he did not pressure us when he fired the gun but failed to say who fired the eight shots. Seven bullets all entered the deceased’s neck, and the eighth, entered the chest.
“Do you agree with me that your wife would not have shot herself?” asked Souls.
Zungu replied that the gun fired while it was in the hands of the deceased.
“The gun went off when it was in his hands. I am confused. I tried to explain that the gun went off when there was a fight with him, it went off several times until it stopped. I didn’t but I said he shot himself,” said Zungu.
The Magistrate, Mr. Muntukayise Khumalo, informed us how the gun went off without one of them detonating it, he replied that he does not know how it went off, all he knows is that it went off.
He finally replied that the gun would not have gone off if they had not been fighting. After Souls was pressed with questions, he finally said that it was his wife who pressed the gun.
“What I don’t accept is that he killed himself. Maybe he pressed the gun by mistake, not because he was killing himself,” said Zungu.
Souls then reminded Zungu of the doctor’s testimony that the deceased would lose strength after being shot twice in the neck, however Zungu disputed this doctor’s testimony.
The trial will continue next month.